Cosmetics maker Thai Ho Group Inc (太和生技集團) yesterday announced plans to list its shares on the Taipei Exchange before the end of this year, advancing from the preparatory Emerging Stock Board.
Sales this year are expected to rise 20 percent annually on increasing orders from Chinese brands, Thai Ho chief operating officer Michael Kuo (郭靖凱) said, adding that China is forecast to account for 50 percent of its overall revenue, up from 41.64 percent.
The company has deepened its ties with Chinese brands since the second quarter of last year, resulting in a 14.21 percent annual increase in sales from China, Kuo said.
The Chinese market for cosmetics is expected to swell from 300 billion yuan (US$47.77 billion) in 2015 to 500 billion yuan next year, he said.
Thai Ho, which began carrying out plans to build a cosmetics manufacturing plant in Okinawa, Japan, with a ￥200 million (US$1.88 million) grant from the Japanese government last year, is now looking for alternative arrangements, Kuo said.
He said that Okinawa is geographically too far away from Japan’s main markets, and the company has formed a contract manufacturing alliance with three Tokyo-based partners.
“We have turned over our equipment and cosmetic formulations to our partners, which would oversee Japan-based production,” Kuo said.
In the long run the company would set up an equity partnership with the three Tokyo-based firms, he added.
Thai Ho reported that revenue for last year grew 12.6 percent to a record NT$1.33 billion, while net income rose 127.39 percent to NT$40.86 million.
The company said that it has excluded NT$35.9 million in profits to reflect potential patent infringement related damages.
The company plans to distribute a cash dividend of NT$0.6 per share, equivalent to a payout ratio of 35.7 percent based on last year’s earnings per share of NT$1.68.
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