Vinda International Announces 2015 Annual Results

Revenue up by 21.4% to HK$9.7 billion 

Gross profit up by 22.8% to HK$3.0 billion

Underlying operating profit up 8.8% to HK$892 million

Highlights:

–    Strong revenue growth

·    Total revenue up by 21.4% to HK$9.7 billion with organic growth at 15.3%

·    Revenue from Tissue business up by 18.9% to HK$9.4 billion

·    Revenue from Personal Care business up by 194% to HK$339 million

·    Revenue from E-commerce up by 124% to HK$1.2 billion

–    Sustainable growth in underlying profits (excluding items affect comparability*)

·    Underlying operating profit up by 8.8% to HK$892 million

·    Underlying profit before income tax up by 6.6% to HK$789 million 

–    Working capital

·    43 days of debtors turnover days (2014: 47 days)

·    79 days of creditors turnover days (2014: 83 days) 

–    *Items affect comparability

·    HK$309 million of foreign exchange loss (2014: HK$18 million)

·    HK$4.8 million of share of post-tax loss of V-care reported in 2014 (2015: nil)

·    HK$41 million of one-off gain reported in 2014 from the revaluation of pre-existing holding in V-Care (2015: nil)

·    HK$31 million of transaction costs related to the acquisition events (2014: HK$21 million) 

–    Dividend payout

·    Proposed final dividend is 5 HK cents per share. Together with the interim dividend of 5 HK cents, total dividend payout for the year amounted to 10 HK cents per ordinary share

·    Total dividend payout ratio is 32% in 2015 (2014: 27%) 

(28 January 2016 – Hong Kong) Vinda International Holdings Limited (stock code: 3331) announced today its annual results for the year ended 31 December 2015.

In 2015, the Group’s total revenue increased by 21.4% to HK$9.7 billion. Revenue of the Tissue business increased by 18.9% to HK$9.4 billion, with sales volume up by 19.6% to 657,000 tons. By product categories, roll and non-roll products respectively accounted for 50% and 50% of the total sales. Notably, sales of higher-margin products such as softpack, box tissue, hanky and wet wipe grew significantly by 34%, 29%, 35% and 32% respectively.

Revenue from Personal Care business also increased by 194% to HK$339 million.

Revenue from e-commerce business increased by 124% to HK$1.2 billion.

Due to the optimization of tissue product mix and improvement on production efficiency which were however offset by the rising wood pulp cost, gross profit margin rose by 0.3 percentage points to 30.5%.

If excluding the items affect comparability, the Group’s underlying operating profit and profit before tax would have increased by 8.8% and 6.6% to HK$892 million and HK$789 million, respectively. Underlying operating margin and profit before tax margin would be 9.2% and 8.1% respectively.

As of 31 December 2015, Vinda reached 950,000 tons of annual designed production capacity for tissue paper in China. It expects to add 90,000 tons of production capacity, bringing the annual designed paper production capacity to 1,040,000 tons by the end of the 2016. In addition, it continues to build personal care production facilities in China and further expand in 2016. Together with two production plants in Malaysia and one in Taiwan acquired from SCA, it will have strong production support and create synergies in terms of research and development, purchasing and production costs.

Mr. Christoph Michalski, CEO said, “Our ambition is to become a leading hygiene company in Asia. In order to achieve such ambition, Vinda has strived to deliver strong business performance through three priorities, (1) driving Tissue business in China, (2) broadening Personal Care presence in China, and (3) driving Personal Care growth in Asia and rolling out Tissue business.”

Mr. Li Chao Wang, Chairman said, “In the mid- to long-run, the Chinese hygiene products market will continue to present opportunities to the Group. Urbanization, the emergence of e-commerce and internet shopping, the surge in disposable income and rising consumers’ awareness about product quality will boost demand for premium products. The aging population will consistently drive the demand for incontinence care products. Stringent environmental regulations will accelerate market integration. Last but not least, the ‘One Belt, One Road’ initiative will certainly boost the demand for quality lifestyle hygiene products for Chinese and Asian consumers.”