This story has been updated to include comments from BGI.
NEW YORK – BGI Genomics reported last week that its full-year 2023 revenues declined 38 percent year over year, mainly due to dwindling demand for COVID testing.
For the year ended Dec. 31, the Chinese company booked RMB 4.35 billion ($600.9 million) in revenues, compared with RMB 7.05 billion in 2022, according to its annual report, filed with the Shenzhen Stock Exchange last week.
The firm’s net profit attributable to shareholders was RMB 91.2 million, plummeting 89 percent from RMB 802.9 million in the year-ago period. Earnings per share for 2023 were RMB .22, a decrease from RMB 1.96 in 2022.
Looking at BGI's business areas, revenues from precision medicine testing solutions, which accounted for 32 percent of total revenues, were RMB 1.41 billion, down 44 percent year over year from RMB 2.51 billion. The company attributed the decline to a "significant drop" in demand for testing related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Without the impact of COVID-19, revenues for this area grew 62 percent year over year.
Reproductive research and clinical services revenues, which accounted for 27 percent of total revenues, were RMB 1.18 billion in 2023, representing a 6 percent increase year over year from RMB 1.12 billion.
Multiomics and synthetic biology services revenues, which accounted for 16 percent of the total, were RMB 707.2 million, almost flat compared to RMB 704.9 million in 2022.
Infectious disease research and clinical services revenues were RMB 515.6 million, making up 12 percent of the company’s total revenues. This represents a 78 percent drop from RMB 2.30 billion in 2022, primarily caused by the decline in COVID-19-related testing.
Oncology testing services made up 12 percent of total revenues in 2023, coming in at RMB 524.9 million, a 30 percent increase from RMB 403.5 million in the prior year. Specifically, revenues from intestinal cancer testing, tumor recurrence monitoring, and liver cancer testing grew 89 percent, 58 percent, and 45 percent, respectively.
By geographic region, BGI's revenue from mainland China was RMB 3.46 billion, a 5 percent decrease compared to RMB 3.63 billion in 2022. Asia-Pacific revenue outside of mainland China, which includes Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan, dropped 80 percent to RMB 557.6 million from RMB 2.79 billion in the prior year. Revenues from Europe and Africa were RMB 216.8 million, down 44 percent from RMB 388.5 million in 2022. Revenues from the Americas declined 53 percent year over year to RMB 116.2 million from RMB 244.7 million in 2022.
BGI did not offer explanations in the report regarding the reasons behind the revenue declines in these regions.
BGI’s SG&A costs in 2023 were RMB 1.44 billion, a 28 percent decline from RMB 1.99 billion in 2022. The firm's R&D expenses were RMB 538.9 million, down 1 percent year over year from RMB 535.8 million.
The company ended the year with RMB 3.56 billion in cash and cash equivalents.
During 2023, BGI established several new subsidiaries outside of mainland China. These include BGI Rus in Russia, which had 10,000 Russian rubles ($106) in registered capital; BGI Health Colombia in Colombia, with $239 million Colombian pesos ($61,000) in registered capital; Innomics in Hong Kong, with $8.04 million in registered capital; and BGI Middle East North Africa Region Headquarter in Saudi Arabia, with 100,000 Saudi riyal ($26,662) in registered capital.
BGI categorized these new entities as "professional scientific and technical services" companies.
In an email, a BGI spokesperson said Innomics in Hong Kong is not affiliated with another BGI subsidiary by the same name that is based in San Jose, California. While the US-based Innomics offers end-to-end next-generation sequencing (NGS) and mass spectrometry solutions to researchers and healthcare professionals, Hong Kong's Innomics hasn’t engaged in any business activities yet, the company said.
In addition, BGI Genomics said Genalive Medical, a joint venture between the company and the Arabian International Healthcare Holding Co., has received clinical certification from the Saudi Ministry of Health (MOH) and the Saudi Central Board for Accreditation of Healthcare Institutions (CBAHI).
BGI said it plans to bring its noninvasive prenatal genetic testing, hereditary tumor screening, monogenic disease carrier testing, neonatal disease screening, and infectious disease testing to the Middle East through Genalive Medical’s clinical laboratory.