Distribute 23.4 yuan for every 10 shares! What supports Daren Tong’s bold dividend of 1.8 billion yuan as its 2025 revenue drops by 30% year on year?

The Daily Economic News Reporter | Wen Duo The Daily Economic News Editor | Huang Sheng

Last week, the topic of sudden cardiac death went viral, sparking renewed attention on quick-acting heart rescue pills. As the exclusive manufacturer of this medication, Darentang (SH600329, stock price 40.90 yuan, market value 31.5B yuan) released its 2025 performance report after market close on March 30.

The annual report shows that the company plans a substantial dividend—distributing 23.4 yuan in cash dividends per 10 shares (tax included).

While investors enthusiastically called it a “conscientious company,” it is also important to note that Darentang’s 2025 operating revenue is projected at 4.92B yuan, down 32.70% year-over-year, and net profit attributable to shareholders is 2.13B yuan, a decrease of 4.41%. Only net profit excluding non-recurring gains increased slightly by 6.56% to 795 million yuan.

2025 marks Darentang’s first full fiscal year focusing entirely on its core traditional Chinese medicine business.

The annual report indicates that last year, the company’s proprietary Chinese medicine products generated revenue of 4.46B yuan, a 10.14% increase. This achievement is largely attributed to the successful implementation of the company’s key product strategy.

During the reporting period, two of Darentang’s core products performed especially well. The quick-acting heart rescue pill achieved a full-year sales (including tax) of 2.17B yuan, up 9.26%. Another core product, Qingyan Diyan Wan, saw even more rapid growth, with sales (including tax) reaching 575 million yuan, a 58.50% increase. The increased sales volume of these two flagship products formed the foundation for the company’s industrial segment growth.

Looking at production and sales data, market demand for these two products remains strong. In 2025, Qingyan Diyan Wan’s sales volume reached 16.0563 million boxes, a 66.88% increase. Although sales volume of the quick-acting heart rescue pill decreased slightly compared to the previous year, the company explained in the annual report that this was due to the addition of larger packaging sizes (200, 240, 300 pills, etc.) in 2025. When converted to standard boxes, the actual production and sales volume increased significantly year-over-year.

The company has built a “Five Major Health” product matrix around five key health areas: cardiovascular and cerebrovascular, respiratory, digestive, musculoskeletal, and skin health. The sales revenue of 13 key products has exceeded 4 billion yuan. These figures indicate that after divesting non-core businesses, Darentang’s core traditional Chinese medicine segment is strengthening its “blood-making” capacity.

While its main business remains steady, Darentang also demonstrates its commitment and ability to reward shareholders. The 2025 profit distribution plan shows that the company intends to pay a cash dividend of 23.4 yuan per 10 shares (tax included) to all shareholders.

According to the plan, the total cash dividend distribution will amount to 1.8B yuan (tax included). This accounts for 84.56% of the company’s net profit attributable to shareholders in 2025, which is 2.13B yuan. Such a high dividend payout ratio is uncommon among A-share listed Chinese medicine companies.

The reporter notes that the company had already proposed in its “2023–2025 Shareholder Return Plan” that: “In the development stage of a mature company with no major capital expenditure plans, the minimum proportion of cash dividends in profit distribution should reach 80%.”

It is also noteworthy that the net profit for 2025 includes significant contributions from non-recurring gains and losses.

The annual report discloses that during the reporting period, the company transferred its 12% stake in Sino-US Tianjin Stada Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., which resulted in a post-tax net gain of 1.31B yuan. The cash inflow from this stake disposal may have provided the financial backing for the high dividend payout.

In fact, Darentang has maintained relatively high dividend levels in recent years. Data shows that over the past three fiscal years (2023–2025), the total cash dividends (including tax) paid out have reached 5.66 billion yuan.

Looking ahead, Darentang has again clarified its dividend strategy in the “2026–2028 Shareholder Return Plan,” emphasizing the importance of maintaining a stable and continuous profit distribution policy. Specifically, the company states that annual profit distribution should generally not be less than the smaller of: the net operating cash flow for the year or 15% of the distributable profit for that year.

Cover image source: Sina Finance Media Library