Asia Cement targets increased market share

Asia Cement Corp said it plans to boost its market share in the provinces of Hubei, Jiangxi, Sichuan and Jiangsu, the company disclosed at its annual shareholders’ meeting. Through mergers and acquisitions, it aims to increase market share to above 30 per cent in five major Chinese cities: Wuhan, Nanchang, Jiujiang, Chengdu and Yangzhou.

The Taiwanese producer is looking to acquire factories in Wuhan that can produce 568,000tpa of cement and plants in Nanchang with a capacity of 240,000tpa, it said.

Moreover, Asia Cement aims to boost combined capacity from its plants on both sides of the Taiwan Strait from a current 40Mta to 50Mta by the end of 2016, said Douglas Hsu, chairman of Asia Cement and Far Eastern Group. He added that it would be easier to reach the goal through mergers.

Last quarter, the company registered a profit of NTD1.44bn (US$47.97m), or NTD0.47/share, up from NTD1.22bm, or NTD0.4/share, the previous year, according to the company’s filing to the Taiwan Stock Exchange. The company expects its profit this year to be higher than last year’s NTD6.81bn, or NTD2.21/share, aided by its acquisition of Sichuan Lanfeng Cement Co last month and higher product prices this year.

Shareholders also approved Asia Cement’s appointment of three independent board members — former Taipei mayor Huang Ta-chou, former Taiwan Stock Exchange chairman Schive Chi and former Financial Supervisory Commission chairman Gordon Chen.