The advertising slogan is known to everyone, but the company’s core product won’t sell, and Jinsangzi’s performance has “gone silent.”

(Source: First Windfall)

“Protect your throat—use Jinsangzi,” the widely known advertising slogan once made Jinsangzi Holdings Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Jinsangzi”) sweep the country.

However, the company’s latest disclosed 2025 financial report shows that this people’s brand is currently facing stagnant performance: full-year revenue of RMB 943 million, down 20.4% year over year, and net profit also fell by more than 20%. Meanwhile, the company quietly adjusted its fundraising allocation, transferring nearly HK$38 million from a traditional Chinese medicine ingredient base to food production. As the familiar advertising voice fades into the distance, can it regain “Jinsangzi” through transformation?

Sales decline for core products

Revenue and net profit both declined last year

On March 27, Jinsangzi released its annual performance for the year ended December 31, 2025. The group achieved revenue of RMB 943 million, down 20.4% year over year; profit attributable to owners of the parent company was RMB 251 million, down 21.16% year over year; earnings per share were 33.98 cents, and it plans to pay a final dividend of HK$0.34 per share.

In detail, the group’s revenue decreased by about RMB 242 million, or 20.4%, compared with the year ended 2024, to about RMB 943 million; gross profit decreased by about RMB 177 million, or 19.8%, compared with the year ended December 31, 2024, to about RMB 717 million; profit before tax, depreciation, and amortization decreased by about RMB 112 million, or 22.9%, compared with the year ended December 31, 2024, to about RMB 377 million. Profit attributable to equity holders of the company decreased by about RMB 67 million, or 21.2%, compared with the year ended December 31, 2024, to about RMB 251 million.

This performance is basically consistent with the profit warning the company issued on March 11. At that time, the company expected revenue and profit to decline year over year by 20% to 25%. The actual figures fell near the lower end of the warning range, showing that operating conditions in the second half of the year stabilized somewhat compared with the first half. In its annual report, Jinsangzi attributed the performance decline to “adjustments to the group’s product marketing strategy.” As a result, customers and distributors reduced purchases for the full year of 2025, leading to a decline in sales during the reporting period.

It is understood that Jinsangzi focuses on the pharmaceutical and food health industries. Its main products include Jinsangzi throat lozenges, sugar-free Jinsangzi Throat Bonbons, Jinsangzi health candies, Jin Yin San Qi capsules, ginkgo leaf tablets, and Siraitia grosvenorii and polygonatum granules, among more than 60 drug products, as well as more than 10 traditional food items such as Old Tusi Yuan Chun Wine and peanut nougat, and mooncakes.

From the product structure perspective, Jinsangzi throat lozenges (OTC), which serve as a revenue pillar, generated revenue of RMB 873 million, down 20.3% year over year, contributing more than 92% of total revenue. The Jinsangzi Throat Bonbon series generated RMB 65.3 million, down as much as 24.7% year over year, with a sharper decline. The sales drop of these two major products directly dragged down overall performance.

Alongside the revenue decline, Jinsangzi also cut back on expenses. In 2025, the group’s sales and distribution expenses were about RMB 314 million, down 11.9% from the previous year, mainly due to lower promotion and advertising expenses. The rate of expense contraction was smaller than the revenue decline, causing the sales expense ratio to rise from 30.0% in 2024 to 33.2%.

Fundraising purpose changed again

Is the focus shifting toward the food side?

Beyond contraction at the operating level, Jinsangzi’s moves in capital operations are also intriguing. The annual report discloses that on March 28, 2025, the board of directors further changed the intended use of the net proceeds from its initial public offering that had not yet been utilized. About HK$38M of the originally planned fundraising funds for the establishment of a traditional Chinese herbal medicine processing base project was reallocated to the construction of food production plants and a food research and development center.

This is the second time since 2022 that the company has adjusted the intended use of part of the net proceeds from its IPO that had not yet been utilized. According to the prospectus, the original fundraising funds were used to renovate the headquarters into a food production plant and research and development center, and were later adjusted to the construction of a new food production plant and research and development center. Moving the funds for the traditional Chinese herbal medicine base into the same project this time means that, at the strategic level, the company is continuing to tilt toward the food side, while its earlier plan to process upstream traditional Chinese medicine ingredients has been put on hold.

By the end of 2025, the food production plant and R&D center project had completed above-ground construction and entered the internal renovation stage. The company expects all IPO fundraising not yet utilized to be fully used by before 2028. Whether this implies that the company’s priority for investing in its pharmaceutical core business has decreased and that it is instead betting on a food-oriented transformation was put to the reporter via a call to Jinsangzi for verification. As of the time this article was published, no response had been received.

Industry data shows that in 2024, among China’s three major end markets and six major markets, sales of throat-protecting patent Chinese medicines reached RMB 7.4 billion, up 7.49% year over year. Among them, tablets accounted for the largest share at 41.65%, followed by powders/granules and pills, accounting for 20.42% and 17.72%, respectively. At the retail pharmacy end, although Guangxi Jinsangzi has continued to lead with a market share of 16.95%, Jinsangzi Tongrentang Qingyan Dropping Pills and Tai Chi Group Xuanmai Ganju Granules saw year-over-year increases in sales of 85.87% and 72.27%, respectively. Competitors are speeding up to catch up, reshaping the market landscape.

Editor / First Windfall Finance Editor Tian Liang

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