Gefung to expand market reach

New Straits Times, 21 June 2008

MARBLE producer Gefung Holdings Bhd will expand its market reach to include Taiwan and Italy, through the export of marble blocks from its recently acquired Turkish quarry.

Impressed with the output from the quarry since production commenced two months ago, Gefung Managing Director Seo Aik Leong said, it now seeks to offer the special beige and grey coloured stone to markets in South Korea, Japan, the US and Singapore.

The quarry has the capacity of producing 1,000 tonnes to 1,500 tonnes per month, although currently about 300 to 400 tonnes are being extracted.

"Although Gefung is a strong competitor in the market, we don't want to rush and overproduce or overspend in the current circumstances and what had befallen some companies during the 1998 financial crisis," he said after the company's annual general meeting in Petaling Jaya yesterday.

He said prices of raw materials have soared by between 30 per cent and 70 per cent, but it is cautious about the operational costs with the current increase in crude oil which will impact the shipment of its products.

Last year, it completed the acquisition of Turkey-based Montana Madenclllk Mermer Sanayi Insaat Ve Ticaret Ltd Sirketi for US$4.4 million (RM14.34 million).

Montana has been granted extraction rights to a quarry in Isparta, Turkey for a 30-year period.

Seo said the company is in no rush to build a factory in Turkey, preferring at the moment to have the blocks processed in China.

Listed on the Bursa Malaysia last year, Gefung has been involved in the processing, trading and workmanship of premium marble and granite works for over 13 years.

Gefung's unbilled order book for this year stands at RM37 million, of which RM30 million are for the overseas market.

It is in the process of tendering for RM23 million worth of projects overseas, mostly in cities in China such as Dalian and Shanghai.

The company also has orders from the Shangri-La group of hotels, which will be opening several hotels in China.

Gefung sources 66 per cent of its revenue and profits from its operations in China and the remainder from jobs in Malaysia and Turkey.

The Turkish venture has so far contributed RM1.34 million in revenue and is expected to contribute positively to its bottom line this year.

On its proposed listing plans in the Middle East, Seo said the timing was being reconsidered due to the global economic developments.

For the financial year ended December 31, 2007, the company posted a net profit of RM14.7 million on revenue of RM61.2 million.

Back to top