AOB

[BigSully1]

Thanks La-onda.

Chart update

[la-onda]

American Oriental Bioengineering Reports First Quarter 2008 Financial Results
Wednesday, May 07, 2008 06:00ET

NEW YORK, May 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- American Oriental Bioengineering, Inc. (NYSE: AOB), a pharmaceutical company dedicated to improving health through the development, manufacture and commercialization of a broad range of prescription and over the counter ("OTC") products in China, today announced financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2008.

Revenue in the first quarter of 2008 increased 50.7% to $38.8 million from $25.7 million in the first quarter of 2007, reflecting continued increased demand for the Company's core OTC and prescription pharmaceutical products. Revenue from pharmaceutical products increased 71.6% to $31.9 million from $18.6 million in the prior year's first quarter, driven by sales of Shuanghuanglian Injection Powder, Cease Enuresis Soft Gel and Jinji Series of products. Revenue from OTC pharmaceutical products increased 138% to $21.2 million from $8.9 million in the prior year's first quarter. Sales of the Jinji series and Jinji Yimucao products were major contributors to this increase as well as sales generated by CCXA and Boke, which were not subsidiaries in the first quarter of 2007. Prescription pharmaceutical products generated $10.6 million in revenue during the first quarter of 2008, a 10% year over year increase. This increase was the result of increased brand recognition, effective pricing and expanded distribution coverage to new rural markets. Nutraceutical product revenue declined approximately 3% to $6.9 million in first quarter of 2008 from $7.2 million in the prior year's period, and decreased as a percentage of total revenue to approximately 18% versus 28% in the comparable period. The decline in Nutraceutical revenue reflects the Company's continued focus on selling and marketing higher growth pharmaceutical products.

Gross profit in the first quarter of 2008 increased 48.5% to $26.3 million from $17.7 million in the first quarter of 2007. Gross margin was approximately 67.8% compared to 68.8% in the prior year's period, reflecting the product mix shift due to the integration of CCXA.

Operating income in the first quarter of 2008 increased 51.4% to $12.0 million from $7.9 million in the first quarter of 2007 while operating margins remained relatively flat at 30.9% as compared to the prior year. For the first quarter of 2008, operating expenses increased 46.2% to $14.3 million compared to $9.8 million in the comparable period of 2007. The increase in operating expenses was primarily due to increases of $2.3 million in sales and marketing expenses, $1.0 million in general and administrative expenses as well as additional depreciation and amortization costs due to the Boke and CCXA acquisitions.

Net income for the first quarter of 2008 increased 46.2% to $9.4 million, or $0.12 per diluted share, compared to $6.4 million, or $0.10 per diluted share, in the prior year's period. Diluted share count in the first quarter of 2008 was 78.2 million compared to 66.6 million in the first quarter of 2007.

Mr. Tony Liu, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of American Oriental Bioengineering, commented "We completed the first quarter of 2008, which is always our slowest sales quarter of the year, with strong financial performance. We are well-positioned for 2008 as we begin to recognize the benefits of our acquisition strategy and the synergies realized from our Boke and CCXA acquisitions. We believe these transactions, as well as our recently announced strategic alliance with China Aoxing Pharmaceutical, significantly strengthen our position to achieve our goal of building a leading pharmaceutical business in China. We continue to seek acquisitions that allow us to drive growth and flexibility through product diversification, brand strength, distribution reach and vertical integration."

Mr. Liu concluded, "We continue to anticipate organic growth of at least 30 percent in 2008, but, more importantly, we expect to reach total revenue of at least $245 million in the full year 2008. This 50 percent-plus anticipated year over year top line growth reflects continued demand for our leading products, and particularly our success with CCXA and Boke integrations. We also anticipate net income performance of at least $62 million, which reflects anticipated year over year net income growth of more than 43 percent. This full year financial guidance excludes any potential acquisitions. On that note, our acquisition pipeline is particularly strong today and we remain excited about the opportunities in China's healthcare space. With our proven expertise accumulated from past acquisitions, and a cohesive strategy team in place, we believe that we are well-positioned to be the leading consolidator in this fragmented industry. We intend to move quickly and efficiently on the acquisition front and we'll strive to work responsibly and aggressively on behalf of our shareholders."


&

American Oriental Bio a China Play
Thursday May 8, 4:45 pm ET
By Grant Zeng, CFA

American Oriental Bioengineering Inc. (NYSE: AOB - News) is a China-based specialty pharmaceutical company which develops, manufactures and commercializes both plant-based pharmaceutical (PBP) and plant-based nutraceutical (PBN) products. First quarter financials were strong and were in line with our expectations. We expect the company to continue to deliver strong performance for the remainder of the year due to a relatively high growth in traditional Chinese medicine market in China.

AOB targets two rather large markets in China: the TCM pharmaceutical market and nutraceutical market. We view AOB as a China play stock and growth story. In the past few years from 2003 and 2007, the company achieved more than impressive top line CAGR of 66.6%. EPS grew from $0.15 in 2003 to $0.60 in 2007, a CAGR of 42.7%. Both top line and bottom line continued to grow in the first quarter of 2008. We believe AOB will ride the wave of Chinese economic growth and increased healthcare spending in the next few years.

We believe the company will continue manage its growth through both organically and through acquisition. Although growth in the PBN sector may level off in the next few years, we believe the company will achieve high growth in the PBP sector going forward.

Specifically, we model top-line growth (CAGR) of 32.5% from 2008 to 2011 EPS growth will reach 29.7% CAGR. We maintain our Buy rating on AOB shares and maintain our price target of $16. The price target corresponds to a P/E ratio of 17.4 x, 11.9x and 11x of our estimated EPS of $0.92, $1.35, and $1.46 for 2009, 2010, and 2011 respectively.

[la-onda]

Q1 Transcript: http://seekingalpha.com/article/78879-american-oriental-bioengineering-inc-q1-2008-earnings-call-transcript?source=yahoo

Chart:

[la-onda]

Hi Rams, any update for AOB available?
Chart looks good imho 


AOB: Global Hunter Starts @ Buy
Friday , May 23, 2008 10:20ET

Issuer: American Oriental Bioengineering Inc (NYSE: AOB)

Analyst Firm:  Global Hunter Securities

Ratings Action: INITIATE

Current Rating: Buy

[la-onda]

Seeking Alpha update:
American Oriental Wants to Buyback $75 Million of Stock
by: ChinaBio Today posted on: June 03, 2008 | about stocks: AOB   

American Oriental Bioengineering (NYSE: AOB) has authorized a program to repurchase up to $75 million worth of its own shares. These purchases could be open market buys, negotiated transactions with investors or speeded-up stock repurchases. The company will time the transactions with a view toward the price of American Oriental's stock.

At the end of the first quarter of 2008, American Oriental had $159 million in cash and working capital of $196.5 million. AOB has 78 million shares outstanding, giving it a market capitalization of $943 million.

In July 2007, American Oriental floated an 8.5 million share secondary offering at a price of $8.60, which garnered net proceeds of $64 million. Originally, the company filed a prospectus to sell 13 million shares (both included some stock from selling shareholders including CEO Tony Liu). An article in Barron's took a negative view of the offering, discussing a relationship between the company and an unsavory stock promoter and also a few overblown claims for some of the company's products. Although the case was built on innuendo, the attack took about 12% out of the price of AOB's stock, sending it to a level of $8.60, and the size of the offering was cut almost in half. Tony Liu offered only 500,000 shares instead of his originally intended 2 million shares.

Now, the company comes back with a desire to buy as much as $75 million of stock when its shares are trading for $12.10. This price is a 20 cent increase following the repurchase announcement.

American Oriental made its debut as a public company through a reverse merger. It migrated to the American Exchange in June 2005 and then moved to the New York exchange in December 2006.

As we reported last week, American Oriental has put $16 million down toward the acquisition of rival China biopharma companies. The prepayments are refundable if the deals are not completed, and AOB did not give any details on the companies being considered or the type of business they pursue.

AOB's recent acquisitions of CCXA and Boke are working out well. The company also paid $18 million to buy a 37% stake in China Aoxing (CAXG.OB), which makes generic version of western-style narcotic pain drugs. China is very restrictive in giving out licenses for narcotic drug companies. As a result, to participate in China Aoxing's business, AOB departed from its plant-based drug emphasis and its usual practice of acquiring other companies entirely.

[la-onda]

AOB Enjoys Solid Growth from TCM
Monday July 21, 5:15 pm ET
By Grant Zeng, CFA

We maintain our Buy rating on American Oriental Bioengineering Inc. (NYSE: AOB - News) as first-quarter financials were strong and were in line with our expectations. We expect the company to continue to deliver strong performance in the second quarter and for the remainder of the year due to relatively high growth in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) market in China.

Total revenue in the first quarter of 2008 was $38.7 million, up 50.5% compared to $25.7 million in the same period of 2007. High revenue growth has translated into earnings and cash flow growth. Going forward, we believe the company will continue to acquire companies that are accretive to its operations.

We are positive about the long-term outlook for TCM and especially plant-based pharmaceutical (PBP) products. TCM is supported by the government and healthcare authorities have recently adopted new policy to try to modernize TCM. Government also increased the number of TCM in the National Basic Medicine Catalog. TCM will enjoy relative invulnerability to regulatory risks due to policy protection. AOB's key products also have competitive advantages.

We believe AOB will ride the wave of Chinese economic growth and increased healthcare spending in the next few years. Although growth in the plant-based nutraceutical (PBN) sector may level off in the next few years, we believe the company will achieve high growth in the PBP sector going forward. Specifically, we model top-line growth (CAGR) of 32.5% from 2008 to 2011. EPS growth will reach 29.7% CAGR. Our price target is $16.

We believe AOB will ride the wave of Chinese economic growth and increased healthcare spending in the next few years. Although growth in the plant-based nutraceutical (PBN) sector may level off in the next few years, we believe the company will achieve high growth in the PBP sector going forward. Specifically, we model top-line growth (CAGR) of 32.5% from 2008 to 2011. EPS growth will reach 29.7% CAGR. Our price target is $16.

[la-onda]

quick update:

AOB: Matrix Ups to Strong Buy from Hold
Tuesday , September 02, 2008 13:46ET
Issuer: American Oriental Bioengineering Inc (NYSE: AOB)
Analyst Firm:  Matrix
Ratings Action: UPGRADE
Current Rating: Strong Buy (from Hold)

chart:

[la-onda]

AOB: Short Interest DN 3.6% to 9.6M at the End of Aug 2008
Thursday , September 11, 2008 06:00ET

According to new short interest data from NYSE, short interest for American Oriental Bioengineering Inc (NYSE: AOB) DECREASED 3.6% to 9,624,310 shares as reported at month-end August, 2008.

Based on AOB's 20-day average daily share volume of 1,039,330, it would require approximately 10 day(s) of buying to cover this short interest.