SOLID POSITION:The papermaker said it expects significant growth in sales over the coming five years as it opens a new plant in China’s Hubei Province

Taipei Times
Date: Jul 08, 2017
By: Kuo Chia-erh / Staff reporter

Papermaker Long Chen Paper Co (榮成紙業) yesterday reported that pre-tax earnings in the first half of this year skyrocketed 130.73 percent to NT$2.67 billion (US$87.2 million) from a year ago, aided by soaring paper prices in China and a better product portfolio.

Earnings per share were NT$2.11 in the first half, compared with NT$0.67 a year earlier, the company said in a filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange.

Sales in the first six months of the year surged 24 percent annually to NT$19.19 billion, while operating income jumped 84.2 percent to NT$2.43 billion, the filing showed.

The sales prices of industrial paper products in China rose about 40 percent annually to a five-year high of 3,300 yuan (US$485.1) per tonne in the first half, Long Chen vice president Tsou Yung-fang (鄒永芳) said by telephone yesterday.    [FULL  STORY]