Business

Wednesday June 27, 2012

GBH optimistic on outlook for clay pipes ops

By NG BEI SHAN
beishan@thestar.com.my


KUALA LUMPUR: Goh Ban Huat Bhd (GBH), which returned to the black in the financial year ended Dec 31, 2011 after five years of losses, is optimistic about the outlook for its clay pipe business.

“The demand (for clay pipes) will continue to be strong. We hope to see some revenue growth from there,” GBH director Thor Poh Seng said.

He also said that he expected a revenue growth of 5%-10% for the division, which contributed 60%-70% of the company's total revenue.

On plans to venture into property development, he said that would be in the medium term of three to five years.

“We will time that to market demand,” he said, citing that the property segment had been “soft” due to an oversupply of property units around the company's land which was situated in Jalan Segambut.

In response to parties who have approached them, he said, “We can do it ourselves or we could join venture with reputable parties. Right now we are at the stage of conceptual planning.”

Going forward, Goh said the company would build its trading business.

“We are trying to build a network of distributors (to get into the retail market) but this will take time as we need to convince the distributors that we are able to meet their demands,” he said.

GBH has ceased the production of its sanitary ware products in 2010 and migrated to a trading model by outsourcing to original equipment manufacturers in China.

As for its fine tableware division which is largely project-based, executive director Lai Sze Pheng said that the company was tendering for projects for palaces, the government and government-linked companies.

When asked if the company had secured any of the projects, he said: “We are still pursuing but we cannot say that it is conclusive.”

According to Thor, the company is not distributing dividend to its shareholders until it becomes “more stable and makes more profit”.

In FY2011, GBH posted a net profit of RM597,000 compared with a net loss of RM4.81mil in FY2010. Its revenue rose 7.5% to RM43.73mil from RM40.68mil.

However, in the first quarter ended March 31, it was in the red with net losses of RM196,000 compared with just RM6,000 a year earlier.

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