A revaluation of China Marine Food Group's drinks arm has pushed the food and beverage firm into the red in the third quarter.
The US-listed company, which also makes seafood-based snacks and distributes frozen catch, booked a net loss of US$2.5m for the three months to the end of September, compared to a profit of $800,000 a year earlier.
China Marine pointed to an impairment loss on its algae drinks business for the loss. It also cited costs linked to the acquisition of beverage firm Hi-Power in 2010.
However, without those one-off items, the company's quarterly net profit fell from $2m in last year's third quarter to $700,000. China Marine more than doubled its investment in sales and marketing in the quarter but sales dipped 0.5% to $30.8m.
"We generated revenue growth in our two main businesses – seafood snacks and Hi-Power beverages – during the third quarter," chairman and CEO Pengfei Liu said.
"These strong results reflect our unwavering commitment to invest in our brands. With consistent advertising and marketing support and low channel inventories, we expect to drive further positive sales momentum in the fourth quarter."