Just five of the ASX’s baby bottle crew — companies with exposure to the infant formula market — have gained value in the past three months.

Stockhead has taken a look at changes in share price for the 16 companies dabbling in infant formula over the past three months, and 10 of them have gone backwards.

That’s despite a recent report suggesting Australian business in China is booming — with two-thirds of Aussie companies set to increase their investment in China in the coming year.

It’s a bit of a downturn from the hype that these companies were generating earlier this year. At one stage, the group was averaging year-on-year share price returns of 170 per cent; that figure has now fallen to a 1pc loss year-on-year.

Keytone Dairy (ASX:KTD) is the best performing infant formula stock at the moment. The company raised $15 million in its IPO and shares are currently sitting at 45c, up 31pc on three months ago.

The company is continuing to build momentum. Chief James Gong told investors in his September quarterly update that it had kicked off the 2019 financial year in fine style.

“We are excited and very pleased with the number of wins we have had in the first quarter as a listed company on the ASX and are proactively working on the execution of our four-pillar growth strategy,” he said.

“The Company continues to form and forge new relationships in our core markets of China and more broadly South-East Asia, as these large addressable markets change and offer new and exciting opportunities.”

Bioxyne (ASX:BXN) has been a strong performer, with its shares up 11pc in the past three months.

The company’s biggest move was acquiring a majority ownership in an Indonesian sales company, expanding its Asian distribution footprint.

It paid $121,000 up front for 95 per cent of P.T. Gamat Utama — an Indonesian direct sales business with 2,500 members. It distributes a range of health products and supplements.

Clover Corp (ASX:CLV) is pretty neutral over the past three months, with its share price dropping 1pc, but it is up 99pc over the past year.

Most recently, it invested in a “spray dryer” technology that converts large volumes of liquid milk into powder.

It has pointed to China’s enthusiasm for infant formula as a reason for a recent doubling of profit.

And though the companies at the bigger end of town — Bellamy’s (ASX:BAL), a2 Milk (ASX:A2M) and Blackmores (ASX:BKL) — are all down slightly in the past three months, the money hasn’t stopped rolling in.

a2 Milk today posted another record profit, as Business Insider reported.

Meanwhile, Longreach Oil (ASX:LGO) moved into the infant formula market way back in April. But the former oil and gas explorer has yet to resume trading after more than a year in suspension.

Here is a table of companies and share price movement. Click headings to sort.

ASX code Company Today's Price 3 month change 12 month change Market Cap
LGO Longreach Oil 0.8c n/a n/a 9.68M
KTD Keytone Dairy 45c 31% n/a 69.75M
BXN Bioxyne 4c 11% -57% 25.61M
JAT Jatenergy 8c 6% 10% 53.92M
HRL HRL Holdings 17c 3% 46% 86.35M
CLV Clover Corp $1.43 1% 99% 236.21M
A2M A2 Milk $9.68 -4% 31% 7.15B
BKL Blackmores $132.29 -8% -20% 2.29B
BAL Bellamy's $7.74 -17% -26% 877.47M
AU8 AuMake International 25c -18% -61% 69.22M
AHF Australian Dairy Farms 13c -19% 13% 34.67M
BFC Beston Global 17c -20% -40% 73.15M
SM1 Synlait Milk $7.88 -21% 20% 1.41B
BUB Bubs Australia 47c -25% -38% 209.72M
WHA Wattle Health 98.5c -25% -44% 191.6M
LON Longtable Group 33c -30% -72% 40.50M
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