(Yicai Global) Aug. 26 -- Harbin Pharmaceutical Group Holding’s loss expanded more than seven-fold in the first half from a year earlier, partly because its American vitamins unit GNC Holdings faces bankruptcy. Its shares fell.

Harbin Pharma’s net loss was CNY333 million (USD48.2 million) in the six months ended June 30, the northern Chinese company said in an earnings report published yesterday. Revenue fell 13 percent to CNY4.8 billion (USD696.6 million).

Sales were disrupted by limited opening hours and offerings at pharmacies amid the coronavirus pandemic, while people were less likely to go to hospitals to get diagnosed, the firm explained. Its struggling Pittsburgh-based unit GNC has dragged down the drugmaker in particular.

Some investors said in online forums that the dismal performance was expected, while others said they were losing confidence in the drugmaker.

Shares of Harbin Pharma [SHA: 600664] closed 4.2 percent lower today at CNY3.41 (49 US cents) each. The stock has fallen 48 percent from a 52-week high of CNY6.53 in early February.

About 40 percent of GNC's 1,400 outlets in the US and Canada were forced to close their doors amid the pandemic, trimming the dietary supplement retailer’s first-quarter gross profit by 30 percent. GNC had to delay debt repayments, it said on June 15.

Harbin Pharma paid USD300 million for about 40 percent of GNC in 2018. On June 30, it said in an update about GNC's bankruptcy procedures that the unit should undergo restructuring. The preliminary valuation of the US unit is USD760 million and other investors may be introduced, it added.

Editors: Zhang Yushuo, Emmi Laine