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HK: Fabric maker hails 22pc rise in earnings despite yuan increase

HK: Fabric maker hails 22pc rise in earnings despite yuan increase

Write: Aundy [2011-05-20]
Net profit at knitted fabric producer Victory City International Holdings (0539) jumped 22 percent to HK$305 million for the year to the end of March on the back of soaring sales.

Revenues rocketed 37 percent to HK$3.9 billion from HK$2.8 billion.

The company declared a final dividend of 6.8 HK cents per share.

Thanks to increases in monthly production capacity to 6,803 tonnes since September from 5,443 tonnes, sales of knitted fabric and dyed yarn surged 43 percent to HK$2.6 billion, accounting for 67 percent of total revenue.

Sales in the garment segment jumped 27 percent to HK$1.3 billion. But the gross profit margin edged down 1.2 percentage points to 19.2 percent. "The drop is mainly due to the yuan appreciation and rise in labor costs," financial controller Thomas Lee said.

"Sales of garments increased during the period but the gross profit margin is relatively lower than that of knitted fabric." Lee said the gross profit margin of garments is about 14 percent and more than 20 percent for knitted fabric.

The company is building a new factory within its Xinhui production base.

On completion of the new plant, the monthly capacity will increase 50 percent.

"We've invested more than HK$100 million in the plant, which will have 500 to 600 advanced knitting machines," Lee said.

Production will commence by the end of next year in the first phase.

The company will this year launch some "value-added" products that will have prices 3 percent to 5 percent higher than ordinary knitted fabric, according to executive director Andy Lee Yuen- chiu.

Victory City International was named as one of the "Best 200 Under a Billion" companies last year by Forbes Asia.

Shares of Victory City International closed at HK$3.27 Friday, down 6.57 percent.