Namchow Group (南僑集團), one of the nation’s major food manufacturers, expects its oil-and-fat and ice cream businesses to be the two major sales drivers in the second half of this year.
The group, with Namchow Chemical Industrial Co (南僑化學工業) as its flagship unit, is building a third production line at its Chinese grease plant in Guangzhou, which is scheduled to go into full operation by the end of this month.
The new production line may boost the group’s total grease capacity in China from 12,000 tonnes per month to 15,000 tonnes.
Currently, the oil-and-fat business accounts for about 58 percent of the group’s overall revenue.
Chairman Alfred Chen (陳飛龍) told shareholders yesterday the group plans to start the construction of a plant in Shanghai in the second half of this year, once it obtains official permission from the local government.
The first phase of the plant includes production lines for grease and frozen dough, which will cost Namchow a total of US$23 million.
“We expect economic growth in China to maintain above 7 percent over the next few years, which may offer momentum for development of its food industry in the long term,” Chen said.
The group aims to build its domestic ice cream business by investing NT$200 million (US$6.65 million) this year to construct a new plant in Taoyuan County, Chen said.
The plant is scheduled to begin operations by the end of this year and the group is planning to open it to tourists as well, he said.
Namchow, which manufactures soft ice cream for Taiwan FamilyMart Co (全家便利商店) and owns the Duroyal (杜老爺) brand, expects demand to climb in the second half of this year, pushing up the sales contribution from ice cream to more than 10 percent of its total revenue, from the 8 percent recorded last year.
The group also plans to introduce its ice cream products in China by the end of this year, Chen said.
Shareholders yesterday approved Namchow Chemical’s plan to distribute a NT$2 cash dividend per share, based on its net profit of NT$854.37 million, or NT$3.44 per share, recorded last year.
The company saw consolidated sales in the first four months reach NT$4.55 billion, up 13.53 percent from a year earlier, stock exchange data showed.
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