FAST NEWS: CStone Revenue Doubles, Helping Company Pare Losses

The latest: CStone Pharmaceuticals (2616.HK) announced on Thursday it expects to report its revenue doubled to 475 million yuan ($70 million) or more last year, while its net loss narrowed by 53% to 800 million yuan or less.

Looking up: The company said its precision medicine sales and royalties from its sugemalimab drug are expected to total 390 million yuan or more, representing 140% growth year-on-year, a key factor behind the overall revenue growth.

Take Note: The company’s cash, cash equivalents and short-term time deposits at the end of last year was approximately 1 billion yuan, down sharply from 1.6 billion a year ago.

Digging Deeper: Founded in 2015 and listed in Hong Kong in 2019, CStone posted its first revenues in 2021 when four of its drugs for non-small cell lung cancer, gastrointestinal tumors and acute myeloid leukemia were approved for sale. But the company’s R&D expenses that year were 1.3 billion yuan, seven times the revenue from its drug sales. Selling expenses also increased 156% that year to 364 million yuan, resulting in a 57% widening of its annual loss to 1.92 billion yuan. But growing revenue and reduced R&D expenses are now helping to improve the company’s performance.

Market Reaction: CStone’s shares surged on Friday, closing up 13.2% at HK$6 by the midday break. The stock now trades at the upper end of its 52-week range.

Translation by Jony Ho

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