China Southern Glass Holdings Co. Ltd. said early in September that its US$ 120 million super-thin float glass project would begin partial operations in October. The line is forecast to produce 120,00…
China Southern Glass Holdings Co. Ltd. said early in September that its US$ 120 million super-thin float glass project would begin partial operations in October. The line is forecast to produce 120,000 tonnes of float glass annually, a company spokeswoman said. According to Southern Glass, the project should generate annual earnings of about RMB 100 million on sales of more than RMB 500 million when fully operational in early 1997. The super-thin float glass is expected to become the company“s main source of profits by the end of the century and it is hoped it will soon help remedy the recent drop in earnings. In fact, the company announced a 14% fall in its interim net profits for 1996 from RMB 81.67 million in the same period last year to RMB 70.16 million in the first half of this year. The company“s operating income reached RMB 344.32 million versus RMB 335.05 million in the first half of 1995. A company spokesman said that the lower earnings were due to increased competition in its home market from domestic counterparts. The spokesman said that Beijing“s credit clampdown had fostered a depressed building materials sector, adding that weakened demand forced the company to trim prices on a range of glass products to maintain market share. Southern Glass said in an annual report for last year that its 1995 net profit declined by 16.4% from the previous year“s level of RMB 161.14 million and blamed the weak results on higher operating costs. The firm said that its net earnings fell to RMB 134.67 million in 1995. After-tax profits per share dropped 35.9% to RMB 0.41 from RMB 0.64 in 1994.