Ginko International Co (金可國際), the largest contact lensmaker in China, said yesterday that its revenue would grow 25 percent to 30 percent this year. as the market in China is expected to grow 20 percent this year.
In addition, sales of short-duration lenses, the company’s main product, would grow even higher because of increasing sanitary awareness, vice president Sonny Pan (潘銘雄) said.
Selling contact lenses under Hydron and Horien brands, Ginko held a 32 percent market share in China last year, followed by Bausch & Lomb Inc with 24 percent, the company said.
The company was also the largest contact lens solution maker in China with a market share of 41 percent last year, followed by Bausch & Lomb Inc with 16 percent, Ginko said.
Contact lenses account for 65 percent of the company’s annual revenue, while lens solution provides about 35 percent, Pan said.
Last quarter, the company reported 32.04 percent revenue growth to NT$1.36 billion (US$45.06 million), from NT$1.03 billion the previous year, according to the company’s filing to the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
That figure was up 7.94 percent from NT$1.26 billion a quarter ago.
Revenue is expected to post 10 to 15 percent quarter-on-quarter growth in each remaining quarter of this year, Pan said, adding that it is a regular cycle for contact lens companies.
Last quarter, Ginko’s gross margin also increased to 63.23 percent, up from 61.38 percent the previous year and 59 percent a quarter ago, supported by the company’s higher utilization rate in its Taiwanese factories, which increased to 80 percent from 60 percent a year ago, Pan said, adding that the utilization rate would remain high throughout this year.
Consequently, net profit increased to NT$335.95 million last quarter, or NT$3.64 per share, from NT$262.4 million, or NT$2.91 per share, the previous year. However, the number was down from NT$384.22 million, or NT$4.22 per share, a quarter ago, the company said.
Ginko expects its profit this quarter would be NT$20 per share, up from NT$15.67 per share a year ago, while gross margin would remain at 63 percent this year.
Pan said the company plans to increase its production lines by two units in Taiwan and three units in China next quarter.
Currently, the company has six production lines in Taiwan, able to make 88,300 pairs of contact lenses a year, along with nine production lines in China, which are capable of making 126,900 pairs a year, he said.
Pan said the company plans to build five production lines a year in the next three years to satisfy the market demand in China and to prepare for entering other oversea markets.
Ginko is to start trial sales of its Horien contact lenses in Malaysia at the end of this month, and it is now applying to sell the product in Thailand, Pan said.
“The reason we chose the two countries is because the GDP per capita is US$15,000 a year, the same as Beijing and Shanghai, where the demand for contact lenses grows fastest,” he said.
Ginko International shares were down 3.44 percent to NT$505 yesterday, underperforming the over-the-counter benchmark index, which was down 1.23 percent.
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