Aurora Corp (震旦行), a Taiwan-based office automation equipment and furniture supplier, said on Saturday it expects its operations will improve quarter by quarter this year on the back of its China market expansion.
While Aurora will stick to the strategy of targeting Taiwan’s private sector as well as government agencies to further penetrate the local market, the company will strengthen its distribution network in China in a bid to boost sales, it said.
PROFIT
Photo: CNA
In the first quarter of this year, Aurora posted NT$240 million (US$8.1 million) in net profit, up 13 percent from a year earlier with earnings per share at NT$0.78 after the company’s sales rose 6 percent from a year ago to NT$3.33 billion – the figures represented the highest profit and sales level in the company’s history.
Eyeing the huge office chair market in China that has an annual output of 18 billion Chinese yuan (US$2.8 billion), Aurora has set up a joint venture with Fursys Inc, one of South Korea’s leading office furniture vendors.
Through the partnership, the two companies will work with each other in brand development, production as well as product design and research in a bid to gain a larger share in the expanding Chinese market.
Aurora said it sells about 200,000 office chairs in China every year and the cooperation deal it has agreed with Fursys should double that figure.
new business
Aurora Systems Corp (互盛), a subsidiary of Aurora, which specializes in office equipment, such as photocopy and fax machines, is planning to start a photocopier-leasing business in China.
The unit will invest 120 million Chinese yuan in the new business which is scheduled to become operational in the third quarter of this year.
In addition, Aurora has established a “one-stop service” hub in Shanghai through the realignment of its resources in design, technology, quality control, product exhibition, logistics and education.
logistics center
In the Shanghai hub, a logistics center is scheduled to be inaugurated in June with warehousing space to expand by 90 percent and the number of loading docks to increase to 18, the company said.
Aurora said the Shanghai facility is expected to improve the company’s production efficiency and to help bring down its operating costs for its Chinese operations.
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