Cost of revenue
Cost of revenue decreased by $15.7 million, or 59%, to $11.1 million for the six months ended March 31, 2024 from $26.9million for the six months ended March 31, 2023. The decrease in cost of sales was primarily attributable to the decreased sales as discussed above. The cost of revenue to decreased slightly more than the decreased sales, which improved the gross margin, which is discussed in the section “Gross profit” below.
Gross profit
Gross profit decreased by $0.9 million, or 38%, to $1.4 million for the six months ended March 31, 2024 from $2.3 million for the six months ended March 31, 2023, mainly due to the decrease of sales for all products types as discussed above. The decrease of gross product includes $0.6 million from oxytetracycline & Licorice products, $0.3 million from natural fertilizer products, and partially offset by the increased gross margin of $0.1 million from heparin product and sausage casing. However, gross margin percentage increased to 11.3% for the six months ended March 31, 2024 from 7.9% for the same period of the prior fiscal year, mainly due to the decrease of production compared to the six months ended March 31, 2023, as discussed below.
Gross profit margin for oxytetracycline & Licorice products increased by 1.5% for the six months ended March 31, 2024 as a result of the decrease production cost in 2024. In 2023, due to the higher labor cost and utility cost post the COVID-19 pandemic, the Company had significant increase of production cost.
Gross profit margin for heparin product and sausage casing increased by 6.3% for the six months ended March 31, 2023. The Company experienced significant decrease of selling price for heparin product for the six months ended March 31, 2023 due to intense price competition of the product in the market, as Chinese government announced centralized procurement of the medicine from beginning of 2023, which resulted 0.1% gross profit margin for the product line. For the six months ended March 31, 2024, the gross profit margin increased to 6.4%, which went back to the normal margin for this product line.
Gross profit margin for fertilizer decreased by 17% from 54% for the six months ended March 31, 2023 to 34% for the six months ended March, 31, 2024. The significant decrease of gross profit margin is due the increase of cost of sale as the fixed cost increased significantly as the production volume has been decreased. In addition, from 2023, the Company became one of designated suppliers by Gansu government to provide organic fertilizer for certain soil improvement projects. For the six months ended March 31, 2023, the sales associated with these projects are $0.3 million, with a gross profit margin over 50%, which made the overall gross margin higher than normal. For the six months ended March 31, 2024, government purchase decreased by 17%, which lower the gross margin profit in the current period.
Selling, General and Administrative, Research and Development Expenses
Selling, general and administrative expenses were $2.1 million for the six months ended March 31, 2024, which is flat comparing to the same period in the prior year.
Other Income (expense)
Other income was $1.0 million for the six months ended March 31, 2024, increased by $0.5 million, compared to $0.5 million for the six months ended March 31, 2023, which primarily consisted of government grants and investment loss. The increase was mainly from the $0.7 million increased income recognized from the fair value change in the investment in trading securities.
Income Taxes Provision
Provision for income taxes decreased by $0.2 million, or 95%, from approximately $248,000 for the six months ended March 31, 2023 to approximately $11,000 for the six months ended March 31, 2024. The decreased tax expense for 2024 was due to the decreased income before income tax, as well as the reversal of provision made for deferred tax asset as the Company can recognized the tax benefit from net operating loss carryforward from prior year, which was fully reserved.
Net Income (loss) Attributable to Non-controlling interest
Net loss attributable to non-controlling interest was approximately $85,000 for the six months ended March 31, 2024, an increase of $30,000, or 53%, from approximately $56,000 of net income attributable to non-controlling interest for the six months ended March 31,