(Yicai) Feb. 5 -- Shares in CanSino Biologics slumped today after the Chinese pharma giant said that it will no longer include its Covid-19 jab making subsidiary in its financial statements, a move which will no doubt shield the company from slumping sales of its Covid-19 vaccines.

CanSino’s mainland-listed stock [SHA: 688185] plunged 7.7 percent to finish at CNY46.06 (USD6.40), while its Hong Kong-traded shares [HKG: 6185] closed down 2.8 percent at HKD15.50 (USD2).

CanSino no longer owns over half the voting rights and Board seats in CanSino SPH Biologics as its tie-up with Shanghai Biomedical Industrial Equity Investment Fund Partnership has expired, the Tianjin-based company said on Feb. 2. Although CanSino still owns equity in CanSino SPH, it is no longer in control of the firm.

CanSino SPH was set up in 2021 by CanSino, the Shanghai Biomedical Industrial Fund and Shanghai Pharmaceutical Holdings. At the time, CanSino invested CNY45 million (USD6.3 million) for a 45 percent stake. Later, it invested another CNY555 million to up its holdings to 49.8 percent.

The change will not have a big impact on CanSino’s financial status and business performance, it added.

There was a rumor in April last year that CanSino SPH had stopped producing Covid-19 vaccines altogether but CanSino said in November that the firm was running at a low volume.

CanSino's income has been badly hit since Covid-19 prevention measures were relaxed. The company racked up losses of CNY909 million (USD126 million) in 2022, a huge turnaround from the CNY1.9 billion (USD264.2 million) in net profit it reported in 2021.

And the firm is expecting its net losses to widen even further last year from 2022, by between 39.6 percent and 64.7 percent to between CNY1.3 billion (USD180.6 million) and CNY1.5 billion as sales of its Covid-19 jabs continue to tumble, according to its latest earnings forecast.

Editor: Kim Taylor