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Dear Mr. Berko:

Dear S.S.:

It’s always nice to be someone’s “last hope.” Nature’s Sunshine Products Inc. (NATR — $8.01) peddled $344 million worth of minerals, extracts, chewables, liquid herbs, regular herbs, oils, toothpaste, skin lotions, capsules, tablets, powders, gels, homeopathic products, vitamins (A through Z) and nutritional drinks last year.

This Provo, Utah, company, which began business in 1972, also sells brain-health products, weight-loss products, stress-management products and products for energy, digestive cleansing, and stuff for your urinary, glandular, respiratory and immune systems. I would not be the least bit surprised if the NATR research team designed an emulsion for alopecia or a pill to increase one’s IQ, a potion to increase one’s height and enlarge certain body parts, and a vitamin drop to improve one’s hearing.

However, you must know that none of NATR’s products has Food and Drug Administration approval.

I’m sorry, but I can’t tell you much about this company except that it hasn’t made a centime in the last four years. NATR’s cost of revenue is about 56 percent of sales; administrative and selling expenses total about 42 percent of sales. So after taxes of about 2.6 percent of revenues, Nature’s Sunshine lost about $1.6 million last year. There are no mutual funds I know that own any of the company’s 66 million shares, each of which has a book value of about 85 cents. NATR has no long-term debt but has current liabilities of $77 million and other liabilities of $33 million.

I really can’t give you a knowledgeable opinion about Nature’s Sunshine. I made several calls but could not locate an analyst or brokerage that covers the company.

I’m glad that you, your family and club members received some benefit from NATR products. However, I did ask a pharmacist friend (who works for a large drug chain) about the quality of those products. He told me that Nature’s Sunshine products are no better or worse than most other pills, tablets, oils, concoctions, emoluments and unguents sold by other companies. He also suggested that your club’s positive response to NATR’s products is probably a result of the positive expectations of one or two group members influencing the expectations of other members. It’s not normal for vitamins and herbs to produce sudden and positive results in a short period of time.

Now, according to someone not intimately familiar with NATR, it’s believed the company could earn a dime a share this year. That’s not a guarantee but a “guesstimate” by a knowledgeable vendor who sells powders, chemicals, compounds, solutions and raw materials to the company. He said he bought 1,200 shares at $5.75 last July and cautioned me that the stock only trades about 4,000 shares a day. NATR doesn’t float my boat but doesn’t sink it either. So if you decide to take a gamble, I wish you all good fortune and continued good health.

Please address your financial questions to Malcolm Berko, P.O. Box 8303, Largo, Fla. 33775 or e-mail him at mjberko@yahoo.com. © 2010 Creators.Com