Microtek International Inc (全友電腦), a computer-scanner maker named by Forbes magazine as one of the 300 best publicly traded small companies in the world in 1999, plans to sell shares in Shanghai, seeking to tap the world's largest market to end three years of losses.
The company plans to sell 15 percent of its Shanghai Microtek Technology Co (
Microtek wants to take advantage of China's lower production costs and demand for computer peripherals. The company relocated about 80 percent of its production capacity to China last year.
"China can maintain its high growth for at least 10 years, because of its low starting point," Liu said. "Just imagine the explosive growth if Beijing orders all its schools to equip classrooms with computers."
Microtek said it hopes expansion in China will lead to NT$200 million in operating profit this year, its first in four years. Microtek posted net income of NT$229 million (US$9 million) last year, saved from a loss by one-time gains unrelated to operations. The company lost NT$1.1 billion in 1999 and NT$490 million in 1998.
Microtek is considering China Securities Co (
Separately, Microtek last week took out a five-year NT$500 million loan from Chiao Tung Bank (
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