(Adds details on results, job cuts, restructuring)
Aug 25 (Reuters) - Australian vitamin maker Blackmores Ltd (BKL) on Tuesday scrapped its final dividend and said it would cut around 100 jobs after a two-third drop in annual profit, as sales in China, its biggest overseas market, were hit by the coronavirus outbreak.
Blackmores has 1,000 employees, according to its website https://www.blackmores.com.au/careers/our-brands-and-businesses. The company, which once relied on Chinese demand for vitamins and health products to fuel sales growth, has struggled recently as the pandemic hindered movement of products to the country.
"We are currently implementing an organisational redesign. This will enable us to reinvest into high growth markets across Asia," Chief Executive Alastair Symington said in a statement.
The company confirmed the sale of its whey protein-based products IsoWhey and Wheyless would be completed next month and said it intended to divest its Global Therapeutics business, which develops Chinese herbal medicines and natural health products.
It reported a net profit attributable of A$18.1 million ($13 million) for the full year ended June 30, down from A$53.5 million a year earlier, but in line with its lowered forecast of between A$17 million and A$21 million.
Revenue fell 3% to A$568 million, while overall sales to China, which include direct exports and in-country sales, fell 16% in the year due to tougher import rules and a slowdown in consumer spending.
Blackmores did not provide profit forecast for 2021, citing uncertainties related to COVID-19.
($1 = 1.3961 Australian dollars)
