NAI, based in Carlsbad, CA, recorded $44 million in revenue in the fourth quarter of its fiscal 2021 and more than $178 million for the entire year.
Private label manufacturing, the core of NAI’s business, brought in $39.8 million in the quarter, representing a year over year increase of 21.8%. The other leg of NAI’s business, its royalty sales on its patented CarnoSyn beta alanine ingredient, increased by 102% over the same period a year previously, rising to $4.7 million overall.
NAI attributed the rise in contract manufacturing revenue to an increase in sales of immune health products, a trend that has been observed across the industry during the global pandemic. The increase in CarnoSyn sales was postulated to be related to the pandemic, too, but in a different way. NAI said sales were up due to greater finished product sales relating to an increase in activity as gyms and athletic facilities began to reopen in accordance with easing COVID-19 guidelines in various jurisdictions.
NAI said it expected its fiscal 2022 to be better than 2021, but sales increases won’t match those driven by pandemic-induced demand spikes. The company expects overall revenue to increase at a 5% to 10% clip. A pandemic hangover may impact results in the first half of the year, though.
Pandemic hangover
“Sales and profitability during the first half of fiscal year 2022 are anticipated to decline when compared to the same period of fiscal 2021. Our expectations for the first half of fiscal year 2022 are being driven by continuing supply chain, labor and logistical constraints, all of which are expected to result in a backlog of existing orders that may not be delivered until the second half of fiscal year 2022,” the company said.
“With the recent acquisition of a new manufacturing and warehouse facility and the pending addition of a new blender in our current facility, we believe we are poised to take advantage of new opportunities that are at hand as well as future growth,” said Mark LeDoux, CEO of NAI.
“Our industry, like many, are dealing with the ongoing challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, including supply chain and staffing, but we are fortunate that our industry has also benefited from consumers becoming more educated and interested in taking care of their health and well-being. We believe this bodes well for our growth objectives for the future. While we anticipate some challenges related to supply chain and staffing in the first half of this fiscal year, we believe we are well positioned to navigate these waters,” he added.
Adding Ramanathan as director
NAI also announced the addition of Guru Ramanathan, PhD, to its board of directors. Ramanathan was the long time director of innovation at supplement retailer GNC but left before that company’s bankruptcy filing and subsequent sale to Chinese company Harbin.
