Nongfu Spring Co. reported the slowest annual profit growth since its 2020 listing after the Chinese company’s packaged drinking water products were the subject of negative publicity last year.

The shares sank 9.7% in morning trading.

Net income grew 0.4% to 12.1 billion yuan ($1.7 billion) in 2024, the beverage company run by China’s richest man Zhong Shanshan said in an exchange filing on Tuesday. That was below the 12.5 billion yuan estimated by analysts.

The company has been embroiled in a series of public relations challenges, including calls for a boycott from nationalist internet users. In July, Hong Kong’s Consumer Council also questioned the quality of Nongfu’s water, an assertion it later apologized for after pushback from the company.

Sales from its water products fell 21% amid the controversy, though the segment’s proportion of total revenue rose slightly to 42.9 billion yuan, from about 42.7 billion yuan a year earlier.

Nongfu had faced a “historical test” from the online backlash but its packaged water products held onto their leading share of the market despite dropping amid the fallout, Zhong said in the filing. The firm will also continue to push into overseas markets, he said.

Nongfu has disrupted the Chinese market by selling its purified water products at significantly lower prices than rivals. It launched a 380ml bottle of mineral water at 18 yuan for 15 bottles, or just under 1.2 yuan each.

Netizens on local Chinese platforms called for a boycott of Nongfu Spring’s products after the founder of key rival Hangzhou Wahaha Group Co. passed away, triggering a wave of unfavorable comparisons.

Criticism included everything from Nongfu Spring’s packaging, which some users said had elements that can be associated with Japan, to the decades-old debate about the quality of its water compared to Wahaha and other brands.