Why it is profiled? To be listed on the Nasdaq beginning April 6.
Winner Medical Group Inc. (WWIN), which now trades on the NYSE Amex, is set to begin trading on the Nasdaq beginning April 6, thanks to the company's continuous efforts to raise its profile within the investment community, besides expanding its transparency and improving stock liquidity.
Following a one-for-two reverse stock split that became effective on October 6, 2009, Winner Medical graduated to the NYSE Amex on October 8, 2009 after trading over-the-counter until then. Now, in over a week's time, the stock will be moving to the Nasdaq.
This China-based company manufactures disposable wound care and surgical medical products, including PurCotton, a new product of nonwoven fabric made from 100% natural cotton. Besides lower production costs, PurCotton is expected to have advantages over woven cotton or synthetic nonwoven fabric, such as it is natural, safe, strong, durable, healthy, environmentally friendly, and of higher quality. In addition, the manufacturing process of PurCotton is patented globally.
The company's products are currently sold throughout the world, including the U.S., Europe, Japan, South America, Australia, Middle East and Africa.
According to the company, the North and South American market, which account for over 19% of its sales revenue, provides the largest potential.
The surgical dressing and medical disposable market in China is also expanding quickly. During fiscal year 2009, the company generated about 16.87% of its sales in China, and in the first quarter of fiscal 2010, this percentage increased to 27.32%. (Winner Medical's fiscal year ends September 31).
Over the past five years from 2005 through 2009, though earnings have been a bit erratic, the company has consistently grown revenue each year since 2005.
In fiscal 2009, Winner Medical reported net income of $9.12 million or $0.41 per share, nearly a two-fold rise over fiscal 2008. The company's sales revenue for the year was $98.38 million, an increase of 15% over fiscal 2008.
In the first-quarter of fiscal 2010, whose results were reported last month, the company's net income more than doubled to $3.9 million or $0.17 per share as revenue rose nearly 16% to $29.79 million from the comparable year-ago quarter.
Winner Medical has two reportable segments - traditional products (Medical Care, Wound Care, and Home Care) and new style PurCotton products.
As mentioned earlier, production cost for PurCotton is low and the company can eliminate 90% of labor costs. Winner Medical believes that PurCotton will generate a higher margin than its traditional products once PurCotton products commence mass production.
In fiscal 2009, gross profit margin for PurCotton products was 26.55% and that of its traditional products was 28.51%. With the existing two PurCotton production lines running at full capacity, the gross profit margin for PurCotton products increased to 40% in the first quarter of fiscal 2010, while the gross profit margin for its traditional products was nearly 31%.
The company has been gradually building up more distributor agents and cooperating with more chain drugstores in the Chinese marketplace to step up the sales of its Winner brand and PurCotton brand of products. The net sales to customers in China were $8.13 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2010, an impressive increase of nearly 213% over the year-ago quarter.
In order to modernize and improve medical care, the Chinese government is spending more money in the healthcare sector. According to reports, in 2009, the healthcare expenditure in China was $18.75 billion, representing a year-over-rise of 50%, and is forecast to increase to $20.36 billion in 2010.
The export of medical dressings and medical disposables products from China has grown rapidly over the last few years. According to China Chamber of Commerce for Import & Export of Medicine & Health Products, the export revenues of medical dressing in 2008 increased 29.4% year-over-year to $3.11 billion. Winner Medical believes that its sales over the next five years will grow in correlation to the growth of medical dressings and medical disposables export volume from China.
However, with the company's overseas sales revenue accounting for more than 70% of the total sales revenue, if the RMB appreciates against foreign currencies, it will make Winner Medical's sale prices more expensive, adversely impacting its sales.
The company has a healthy balance sheet - with a total cash of $7.5 million and total debt of $3.66 million as of December 31, 2009. Winner Medical's return on equity, a measure of a company's performance is 14.44%. (Data as per Yahoo Finance).
Shares of Winner Medical have thus far hit a 52-week low of $0.60 and 52-week high of $9. The stock closed Friday's trade at $7.20, just above its 50-day moving average of $6.71 and above its 200-day moving average of $5.10.
Last week's stock "in the spotlight" was Pozen Inc.
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December 19, 2025 15:10 ET U.S. inflation data and interest rate decisions by major central banks were the highlights of this busy week for economics news flow. Employment data and survey results on the housing markets also gained attention in the U.S. In Europe, the European Central Bank and Bank of England announced their policy decisions and macroeconomic projections.