Fitness equipment manufacturer Johnson Health Technology Co Ltd’s (喬山健康科技) shares closed up 5.26 percent yesterday, after the company announced a NT$60 million (US$1.9 million) share buyback program to reward employees.
The company’s shares closed at NT$80 on the Taiwan Stock Exchange, 1.49 times the closing price of NT$32.1 recorded at the beginning of the year.
The board of directors has approved Johnson Health’s plan to repurchase 600,000 shares, or 0.2 percent of its total capital shares, starting from yesterday through Sept. 25, the company said in a filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange on Thursday.
Johnson Health plans to buy back those shares at NT$70 to NT$100 each, Johnson Health said.
The company gave a positive outlook for the second half of this year, saying that it expects growth momentum to extend from April last year.
“Our customer’s thriving gyms and membership numbers will reflect positively on our sales in the second half of the year,” a company official said, adding that Johnson Health expects to see year-on-year revenue growth in the fourth quarter.
EXPANSION PLANS
The company expects to complete capacity expansion at its Taichung factory in the second quarter of next year, which would increase output of its commercial fitness equipment by 30 percent a year, said the official, who asked to remain anonymous.
The company’s new factory in Vietnam’s Bac Ninh Province, which would mainly produce household fitness equipment, would start contributing to sales in the first quarter of next year, the official said.
Although manufacturing costs are lower in Vietnam compared with China, the company is not planning to relocate its Chinese production lines overseas, given thriving domestic demand in China, the official said.
The company said it has a plant in Shanghai.
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