NAI records Q4 sales gain despite bottom falling out of Carnosyn sales

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Contract manufacturing and branded ingredient firm Natural Alternatives International notched a strong sales gain for its fourth quarter despite the pandemic crushing sales of CarnoSyn, its branded form of beta-alanine.

CarnoSyn is a sports nutrition ingredient that has proven performance benefits in high energy activities.  With the pandemic having forced many gyms to close during NAI’s fourth quarter of 2020, which ended June 30, the sales of the ingredient took a steep drop as fewer finished goods were sold.  Sales were off by 28% to $2.3 million in the quarter.

Contract manufacturing demand fills void

But the company’s contract manufacturing division more than made up for that loss. Private-label contract manufacturing sales increased $5.7 million, or 21%, from the comparable quarter last year.

But the loss of a major customer hurt the company’s year end results. For the year the consolidated net sales decreased $19.4 million, or 14%, from $138.3 million recorded in fiscal 2019.  For fiscal 2020, private-label contract manufacturing sales decreased $15.3 million, or 13%, from the comparable period last year. A majority of this decline occurred during the first nine months of fiscal 2020 while the fourth quarter of fiscal 2020 included a year over year increase. 

CEO and chairman Mark A. LeDoux said the company expects a rebound to growth in fiscal 2021.  LeDoux said NAI, which has headquarters in Carlsbad, CA and manufacturing facilities in Southern California and in Switzerland, is added headcount in its manufacturing operations.

"Our fourth quarter sales and profits were encouraging.  While nobody could have predicted the emergence of a pandemic earlier this year, our efforts to address these challenges have been rewarded and our business saw a significant surge in sales and commensurate profitability in the fourth quarter,” he said.

"At the moment, we see continued strength in the marketplace for nutritional dietary supplements,” LeDoux added.