Fulgent Sun Group (鈺齊國際), which produces shoes featuring special fabric such as Gore-Tex, yesterday gave a positive sales outlook for the second half of the year.
The leading outdoor footwear supplier for famous global brands, including Under Armour and Columbia, said sales this quarter might be flat from last quarter’s NT$2.22 billion (US$69.23 million), but would show substantial improvement next quarter.
“We are optimistic about sports-related markets as outdoor activities are still trendy, especially in Europe and North America. Orders for the spring and summer collection in 2017 have surged compared with the same period this year,” Fulgent Sun spokesman Sunny Liao (廖志誠) told an investors’ conference.
Fulgent Sun is following a multi-brand strategy and expects to take orders from two or three new global buyers in the fourth quarter, Liao said.
The company is also aiming to produce more high-priced outdoor items to improve its gross margin, the spokesman said.
“We plan to add two production lines in Vietnam to increase our capacity for high-end footwear,” Liao said.
Fulgent Sun reported net profit of NT$194 million in the second quarter, or NT$1.47 in earnings per share, the highest in its history.
Accumulated net profit reached NT$367 million for the first half of the year, or NT$2.77 per share, while revenue dropped 0.14 percent to NT$4.694 billion from NT$4.687 billion a year ago, data showed.
The company attributed earnings growth in the first half to its improved production efficiency and diversified products as well as competitiveness in production management among various factories.
Fulgent Sun is headquartered in Yunlin County and has six production bases overseas: three plants in China, two in Vietnam and one in Cambodia.
Revenue from its Chinese operations contributed about 50 percent of the company’s total sales, while Cambodia and Vietnam operations accounted for the remaining half.
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