Bicycle maker Giant Manufacturing Co (巨大機械) is planning to take its Chinese subsidiary public in China.
Giant Light Metal Technology (Kunshan) Co (捷安特輕合金科技), which manufactures finished and semi-finished aluminum industrial products, is planning to seek approval from Chinese securities authorities to launch a yuan-denominated A-share initial public offering, Giant said in a filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange on Thursday.
The listing aims to speed up the company’s pace of expansion in China and attract talent, which is expected to boost its influence and integrate resources, Giant said.
The A-share listing is also expected to provide additional funding and strengthen the firm’s financial structure, but the amount of the share sale has not yet been finalized, it added.
Rising demand for electric bikes in Europe helped boost the company’s net profit 39.4 percent last year from a year earlier to NT$2.86 billion (US$92.84 million), or earnings per share of NT$7.64.
Consolidated sales were up 9.1 percent from a year earlier to NT$60.24 billion, but sales in China fell about 20 percent due to weaker demand amid fading enthusiasm for bike-sharing, the company said.
The company sold 500,000 electric bikes last year, accounting for about 19 percent of its total sales, Giant said.
The electric bikes sold in Europe and the US were provided by plants in Taiwan and the Netherlands, the company said, adding that a plant in Hungary is scheduled to begin operations in the first half of next year and would manufacture traditional and electric bikes.
The firm’s board of directors has approved the issuance of a NT$4.6 cash dividend, pending approval from an annual shareholders’ meeting in June.
Giant shares yesterday rose 2.47 percent to close at NT$207.5.
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