Drug firm posts 11% rise in net

Beijing Tongrentang Co, a traditional Chinese medicine producer and retailer, has posted an 11 percent increase in 2008 net profit despite falling overseas sales, chiefly in Hong Kong.

The Hong Kong-listed Tongrentang reported yesterday that profits had risen to 416 million yuan, on sales of 2.94 billion yuan, up 8.69 percent from 2007. In comparison, the company's profits for 2007 rose 29 percent over the previous year.

Analysts said the company would see "sustainable growth" in profit this year, boosted by a government commitment to strengthen the domestic healthcare industry and a potential market opportunity in the newly-developed supplementary drugs category of medicines.