(Yicai Global) Jan. 31 -- Shares in Zhangzhou Pientzehuang Pharmaceutical tumbled as much as 5 percent today after the maker of traditional Chinese medicines said its net profit in 2022 expanded at the slowest clip since 2010.

Pientzehuang’s share price [SHA:600436] closed down 4.2 percent at CNY310.80 (USD46). Earlier in the day it slumped to CNY308. The stock has lost 36 percent in value since 2021.

Pientzehuang posted a 1.5 percent gain in profit in 2022 from the year before to CNY2.4 billion (USD370 million), the Zhangzhou, southeastern Fujian province-based company said yesterday.

Revenue growth also slowed dramatically, expanding at the slowest rate in the past five years at 8.3 percent and falling below 10 percent for the first time, it said. Revenue for the year was CNY8.7 billion (USD1.3 billion). No reasons were provided for the stalling growth.

Pientzehuang’s namesake herbal tablets, whose prescription dates from the 17th century and is a national secret, are a popular treatment for hangovers and liver conditions that go hand-in-hand with China’s heavy drinking culture in business circles.

In 2021, an acute shortage of one of its main ingredients Moschus, a rare material made from the glandular secretions of animals such as the musk deer, led to a shortage and caused prices to triple to as much as CNY1,500 (USD222) per capsule. The firm’s stock price also more than tripled that year.

Editor: Kim Taylor