Victor Taichung Announces Invest-in-Taiwan Year Project

Taipei, May 29, 2008 (CENS)--Victor Taichung Machinery Works Co., one of Taiwan's leading manufacturers of CNC (computerized numerically controlled) machine tools, recently announced an invest-in-Taiwan year project when breaking ground for an integrated plant for painted metal sheets and PET (polyethylene terephthalate) bottle recycling.

The company said it would invest NT$500 million (US$16.39 million at US$2:NT$30.5) to build the integrated plant, which is located in the Changpin Industrial Zone of Changhua County, central Taiwan. The company said the plant construction demonstrates its determination to invest in Taiwan as well as strong support of the newly elected government.

Victor Taichung achieved remarkable operating performance last year: Its Taiwan operations scored NT$5.87 billion (US$192.45 million) in sales, up 15.06% year-on-year. The entire Victor Taichung Group, including subsidiaries and overseas operations, registered NT$9 billion (US$295.08 million) in sales last year, up 20% from NT$7.5 billion (US$245.9 million) a year earlier.

The group said it registered NT$670 million (US$21.96 million) in after-tax earnings, or NT$6 (US$0.196) in earnings per share, last year. The group will likely become Taiwan's first machine-tool firm to post NT$10 billion (US$327.86 million) in annual sales this year.

Bert M.H. Huang, president of Victor Taichung, said he is very optimistic about corporate prospects. The company will take substantial steps to develop emerging markets, including Germany, East European nations, Russia, India and Turkey.

Victor Taichung scored NT$1 billion (US$32.78 million) in sales in European market and the figure is expected to jump to NT$1.3 billion (US$42.62 million) this year.

The company's Taiwan operations saw cumulative sales reach NT$1.97 billion (US$64.59 million) in the first four months of this year, up 23% year-on-year.

In addition to the construction of the integrated plant in Changpin Industrial Zone, the company will also invest NT$100 million (US$3.27 million) to expand its precision-processing facility in its headquarters in Taichung Industrial Park in Taichung City.

The company's parent plant in the Taichung Industrial Park was designed for a capacity of 1,000 units of machine tools per year when it was established a few years ago; however it is currently capable of rolling out 3,000 units of machine tools.