Beverage supplier Hey Song Corp (黑松) is planning to tap into the carbonated drink market in Southeast Asia with its high value-added products over the coming years, in line with the government’s New Southbound Policy, a company executive said yesterday.
“We are upbeat that some of our key products are very likely to grab market share [in the region’s soft drink market],” Hey Song chairman Chang Pin-tang (張斌堂) told an investors’ conference in Taipei, referring to the company’s carbonated drinks containing vitamin C.
As part of its three-year renovation project, the company has allocated more than NT$2.2 billion (US$73.32 million) to build a new aseptic processing line, which would allow it to take advantage of growing health consciousness by adding nutrients to soft drinks.
Hey Song must provide this type of differentiated product to compete with well-known global brands in Southeast Asian markets, Chang said, adding that the company is targeting the Philippines, Thailand and Singapore.
The 92-year-old beverage maker did not disclose its investment budget or timetable for the ongoing Southeast Asia project, but said it is in talks with some Taiwanese firms that have had roots in the region for a long time.
Hey Song, which has a solid 7 percent share of Taiwan’s drink market, posted a net profit of NT$453.04 million, or earnings per share of NT$1.13, for the first three quarters of this year, which represented a decline of 54.68 percent year-on-year from NT$999.54 million.
The profitability of its core business did not decline significantly, the company said, attributing the sharp dip to a relatively higher comparison base in the same period last year, when it booked a one-off gain from the sale of its Chinese subsidiary.
The company sold its Suzhou-based unit, which contributed a non-operating gain of nearly NT$500 million in the second quarter of last year, company vice president Pai Chin-wen (白錦文) told investors.
Sales in the first three quarters of this year amounted to NT$7.05 billion, a 6.3 percent increase from NT$6.63 billion from the previous year, while operating income grew 9.06 percent to NT$156.16 million from NT$143.19 million.
Soft drinks made up 56 percent of the company’s total revenue, while alcohol contributed the remaining 44 percent.
Hey Song has distribution contracts with Kinmen Kaoliang Liquor Inc (金門高粱), Japan’s Choya Umeshu Co and French cognac maker Remy Martin, company data showed.
The company’s stock price yesterday remained unchanged at NT$31.1 in Taipei trading.
HANDOVER POLICY: Approving the probe means that the new US administration of Donald Trump is likely to have the option to impose trade restrictions on China US President Joe Biden’s administration is set to initiate a trade investigation into Chinese semiconductors in the coming days as part of a push to reduce reliance on a technology that US officials believe poses national security risks. The probe could result in tariffs or other measures to restrict imports on older-model semiconductors and the products containing them, including medical devices, vehicles, smartphones and weaponry, people familiar with the matter said. The investigation examining so-called foundational chips could take months to conclude, meaning that any reaction to the findings would be left to the discretion of US president-elect Donald Trump’s incoming team. Biden
INVESTMENT: Jun Seki, chief strategy officer for Hon Hai’s EV arm, and his team are currently in talks in France with Renault, Nissan’s 36 percent shareholder Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), the iPhone maker known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團) internationally, is in talks with Nissan Motor Co’s biggest shareholder Renault SA about its willingness to sell its shares in the Japanese automaker, the Central News Agency (CNA) said, citing people it did not identify. Nissan and fellow Japanese automaker, Honda Motor Co, are exploring a merger that would create a rival to Toyota Motor Corp in Japan and better position the combined company to face competitive challenges around the world, people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. However, one potential spanner in the works is
HON HAI LURKS: The ‘Nikkei’ reported that Foxconn’s interest in Nissan accelerated the Honda-merger effort out of fears it might be taken over by the Taiwanese firm Nissan Motor Co has become the latest buyout target in Japan as it explores a merger with Honda Motor Co and faces an overture from Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團) internationally. Shares in Nissan yesterday jumped 24 percent, the most on record, to hit the daily limit, after the two Japanese automakers acknowledged that talks are ongoing to better position themselves for competitive challenges during a time of upheaval in the global auto industry. Foxconn — a Taipei-based manufacturer of iPhones, which has been investing heavily in factories to build electric vehicles — has also
CHIP SUBSIDY: The US funding would help alleviate the financial pressure from building two fabs in the US and should lift gross margins in 2026, the company said GlobalWafers Co (環球晶圓), the world’s third-largest silicon wafer supplier, yesterday said it is to receive US$406 million in subsidies from the US Department of Commerce for two new US fabs under the CHIPS and Science Act, with the first batch of the funds likely coming next year. The grant represents 10 percent of the planned investments of US$4 billion in advanced semiconductor wafer manufacturing facilities in Texas and Missouri, GlobalWafers said. The commerce department is to disburse the funds based on the completion of project milestones over a multiyear timeframe, the company said. Along with the tax credit, which is equal to
RSS