ST Renfu's first annual report after change of ownership released: "Profit growth without revenue increase" in 2025, continuing asset sales to "slim down"

Ask AI · How can ST Renfu’s “return to the core and focus” strategy deliver profit growth against the trend?

Everyday Finance reporter: Chen Qing    Everyday Finance editor: Yang Yi

On March 30, a domestic leading company in the anesthesia drugs sector—ST Renfu (SH600079, formerly the listed security abbreviation Renfu Pharmaceutical)—released its 2025 annual report: net profit rose 39.53% year over year, while revenue fell slightly by 5.79%.

The reporter from The Daily Economic News learned that behind ST Renfu’s “increased profits without increased revenue” last year was the strong performance of its core subsidiary—Yichang Renfu Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Yichang Renfu; ST Renfu holds 80% of the equity). In 2025, Yichang Renfu achieved net profit of about 2.75B yuan, nearly accounting for all of ST Renfu’s net profit.

In fact, against the backdrop of profits being highly concentrated in the anesthesia drugs business, ST Renfu accelerated the implementation of its “return to the core and focus” strategy, which was also a key reason why the company’s revenue declined slightly last year. Entering 2026, ST Renfu said it will continue to deepen this work and further optimize its asset structure and business layout.

Actively advancing the “return to the core and focus” work in 2025

Public information shows that ST Renfu was founded in 1993 and listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange in 1997. For a long time, ST Renfu has been under the control of the Dangdai Group. In July 2025, China Merchants Shengke completed procedures such as the reconstitution of ST Renfu’s board of directors. ST Renfu’s controlling shareholder was changed to China Merchants Life Science & Technology (Wuhan) Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as China Merchants Shengke), and the actual controller was changed to China Merchants Group Co., Ltd.

In its first fiscal year after the change of hands—2025—ST Renfu achieved operating revenue of 23.96B yuan, down 5.79% year over year; it achieved attributable net profit of 1.86B yuan, up 39.53%. Among them, ST Renfu’s core subsidiary Yichang Renfu achieved revenue of 8.81B yuan and net profit of 2.75B yuan. This means ST Renfu’s net profit last year was basically contributed by Yichang Renfu, which also indicates that the anesthesia drugs business remains ST Renfu’s main profit source.

In fact, in 2025, ST Renfu actively advanced the “return to the core and focus” work, meaning it continued to sell assets to “slim down.”

ST Renfu’s 2025 annual report shows that during the reporting period, the company completed the sale of equity in several companies, including Yichang Renji Maternal and Child Health Management Co., Ltd., Renfu Pharmaceutical Group Medical Supplies Co., Ltd., and Hangzhou Nocare Medical Equipment Co., Ltd., and it deregistered multiple subsidiaries, including Yichang Renfu Medical Devices Co., Ltd. and Wuhan Zhiyingxin Enterprise Consulting Co., Ltd.

ST Renfu’s “increased profits without increased revenue” in 2025 is also closely related to “return to the core and focus.” In its annual report, ST Renfu explained that in 2025, revenue decreased mainly due to structural reform on the payment side in the pharmaceutical industry, as well as the company’s implementation of the “return to the core and focus” work, leading to ongoing optimization of its business structure.

It is worth noting that under the “return to the core and focus” strategy, in 2025 ST Renfu’s consolidated gross margin for its main business was 48.21%, up 3.69 percentage points year over year.

Announcing a targeted share offering after the 2026 Spring Festival

The reporter from The Daily Economic News learned that after the 2026 Lunar New Year, the first major matter announced by ST Renfu was a targeted share offering: the company plans to issue shares to its controlling shareholder China Merchants Shengke, raising total proceeds of no less than 3 billion yuan and no more than 3.5 billion yuan. The net proceeds after deducting relevant issuance expenses are intended for innovative drug R&D (the Yichang Renfu project and the headquarters research institute project), the construction of a two-sex health and complex formulations manufacturing base, digitization and intelligence (數智化) construction, and replenishing working capital.

ST Renfu’s announcement shows that based on the issuance cap, after this offering is completed, the shareholding proportion of China Merchants Shengke and its persons acting in concert in ST Renfu will increase from 28.30% to as high as 37.29%.

Regarding matters related to the progress of this issuance, on the evening of March 30, 2026, the reporter from The Daily Economic News contacted the company, but as of the time this article was published, no response had been received.

Judging from the announcements released by ST Renfu, the company said it will continue to advance related “return to the core and focus” work this year. Specifically, the company will continue to carry out the cleanup of non-core assets, and flexibly use market-oriented approaches such as transfer, integration, and exit to optimize allocation of resources, thereby focusing resources on business areas with competitive advantages and synergistic effects. At the same time, the company will comprehensively review and streamline the equity levels and management structure to improve management efficiency. In addition, the company will closely focus on traditional advantageous areas and key weaknesses along the industrial chain to actively carry out work related to reservation of investment targets. By driving high-quality development through both internal growth and external M&A—using a dual-wheel model—the company will press the “accelerator key” for its high-quality development.

The Daily Economic News