Poultry producer Charoen Pokphand Enterprise, Taiwan (CP Taiwan, 台灣卜蜂) yesterday said it plans to set aside NT$1 billion (US$33.2 million) in capital expenditure this year to purchase new equipment.
“We would focus on developing the layer chicken business this year,” company chairman Willis Cheng (鄭武樾) said at an investors’ conference in Taipei yesterday.
CP Taiwan said it is also contemplating merger and acquisition deals to raise its competitiveness in food processing technology.
It did not elaborate.
In the first quarter, the poultry producer posted revenue of NT$4.78 billion, a 12.4 percent increase from NT$4.26 billion in the same period a year earlier, company data showed.
Thanks to improved streamlining of its manufacturing process, gross margin over the period climbed from 14.3 percent to 18 percent, boosting net income last quarter, CP Taiwan said.
From January through March, net profit totaled NT$411 million, a 61.2 percent rise from NT$255 million a year earlier, company data showed.
In related news, the company is to hold its annual shareholders’ meeting in Nantou on June 15, with shareholders to discuss a cash dividend of NT$3 based on last year’s profit.
The company reported net profit of NT$1.26 billion for last year, up 83.46 percent from 2015, with gross margin rising from 12.25 percent to 15.52 percent.
Revenue last year increased 9.8 percent from NT$16.6 billion to NT$18.2 billion, primarily due to a larger revenue contribution from its food processing business, the company said.
The earnings pickup failed to lift CP Taiwan shares, which closed down 1.9 percent at NT$67.3 in Taipei trading yesterday, underperforming the broader market’s 0.61 percent fall.
That is because the market has priced in the company’s earning results given that its shares have risen nearly 50 percent so far this year.
Established in 1977, CP Taiwan is a major unit of the Bangkok-based Charoen Pokphand Group, which is Thailand’s largest private conglomerate.
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