Kobayashi Pharmaceutical said Monday that it suffered the first year-on-year decline in its group net profit since its 1999 stock listing in the business year ended December last year.
The company's net profit plunged 50.5% to ¥10.07 billion ($72 million) in the aftermath of a health scandal involving its supplements containing beni kōji red fermented rice, which emerged last year.
Kobayashi Pharmaceutical booked a special loss of ¥12.7 billion mainly due to ballooning costs related to the recall of products containing beni kōji and compensation to victims affected by the scandal. Its sales of health food products, including supplements, were also sluggish.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.