Bangkok-based Berli Jucker to spend 3B baht this year to build aluminum can plant in Vietnam and move glass container plant from Bangkok to Saraburi, Thailand; company expects packaging to contribute 60% to earnings this year

Philip Goldsmith

LOS ANGELES , March 13, 2012 (Industry Intelligence) – Berli Jucker Public Co. Ltd. expects to spend 3 billion baht (US$97.9 million) this year on aluminum can and glass container production facilities in Vietnam and Thailand, reported the Bangkok Post on March 13

The investment will be equally divided between relocating a glass container plant to Saraburi, Thailand, from Bangkok and building a new aluminum can factory in Vietnam that will be capable of producing 850 million cans annually.

The Bangkok-based manufacturing and trading company is also considering two or three possible deals that are mostly related to Berli Jucker’s current business, said Suthipa Watcharothayangkul, head of portfolio management, the Bangkok Post reported.

The company usually enters into merger agreements with two or three companies a year, she said.

As Berli Jucker recovers from floods that disrupted its beverage and packaging production, it should see strong sales growth in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(ASEAN), especially in Vietnam, Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia, said Bualuang Securities.

Despite high operation costs, the company is expected to post 20% revenue growth this year, with the contribution from packaging accounting for 60%, up from 50% last year, reported the Bangkok Post.

Berli Jucker expects to raise consumer prices gradually by 3% to 5% to maintain a gross profit margin of 26.4% despite rising energy prices driving up operating costs.

In last year’s fourth quarter, the company posted net earnings of 550 million baht, which was up 23% from a year earlier, and full-year net profit of 2.18 billion baht, which was up 14.5% year-over-year, the Bangkok Post reported.

The primary source of this article is the Bangkok Post, Bangkok, Thailand, on March 13, 2012.
 

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