Carrington Laboratories announced that net revenues were up 61 per cent for the year with raw material sales increasing 76 per cent in 2003 from $6.5 million to $11.5 million.
"Our raw material Manapol Powder has become a key ingredient in dietary and nutritional supplements. The renewal of our supply agreement with supplement developer Mannatech reflects the growing acceptance of Carrington products in the nutraceuticals industry," said CEO of Carrington Carlton Turner.
Manapol Powder, protected by a patent in 26 countries, is a proprietary raw material obtained from Aloe Vera L., which is used in nutraceutical products that claim to enhance the immune system.
However despite record revenue results in 2003, Carrington Laboratories reported a net loss of $1.5 million.
The company claimed that further investment into its DelSite Biotechnologies subsidary, which is developing GelSite technology for controlled delivery of drugs, prevented the company from achieving an overall profit.
Excluding the DelSite expenses, the company would have reported a net income of $1.3 million.
During the year, the company also invested $1.4 million to enhance production capabilities, improve efficiencies and meet higher manufacturing product standards.
"The acquisition of the custom division of Creative Beauty Innovations that we completed in December 2002 resulted in $4.1 million in sales and substantially increased our customer base for manufacturing services, while significantly improving our manufacturing capacity utilization," Turner said.
Turner noted that additional operational improvements due to the company's investments in manufacturing equipment and information technology systems for its Texas and Costa Rica plants have better positioned the company operationally for future growth.
Carrington Laboratories also uses complex carbohydrates to manufacture and market products for mucositis, radiation dermatitis, wounds and oral care as well as the nutraceutical raw materials Manapol and Hydrapol.