DIAMOND OPENS 9TH PLANT AS Q2 PROFIT JUMPS 33%

Diamond Roofing Tile is opening its ninth production line at a cost of Bt480 million after secondquarter revenue spurted by 26 per cent.    

The company, which produces tile under the Adamas and CT Diamond brands and concrete tiles under the Diamond logo, saw revenue of Bt887.17 million in the second quarter of this year.

Satid Sudbuntad, deputy managing director of sales and marketing, said yesterday that the supporting factors for the record quarter were growing markets in the North, Northeast and Central regions, which are strong in agricultural products.

Secondquarter net profit improved by 33.4 per cent to Bt140.05 million compared with the same quarter last year.

For the first half, the company earned Bt252.87 million on revenue of Bt1.71 billion.

The company expanded by 129.7 per cent from the first half of last year and is still growing. Its products are used by leading realestate developers such as Pruksa Real Estate, Quality Houses and Supalai.

The company provides a range of products for architects, builders and realestate operators. These products include everything from construction materials and to aftersales service.

For the rest of the year, the company will work on related projects for realestate operators. Diamond Roofing Tile plans to expand its business by 5 per cent by the end of the year.

The company is aiming at Bt3 billion in revenue for the full year, up from Bt2.7 billion last year.

A production line of fibre cement board will be started up in the second quarter of 2012 with a capacity of 72,000 tonnes per year, which is expected to boost revenue by Bt300 million to Bt500 million and production capacity to 662,000 tonnes per year.

The company will then be capable of producing artificial wood for floors and walls for major projects such as highrise buildings.

Fibre cement tiles remain the company's main revenue source with a share of 63.57 per cent, followed by concrete tiles with 14.56 per cent, synthetic wood at 11.68 per cent, ceiling and wall business at 6.79 per cent and roof materials at 3.4 per cent.

 Diamond Roofing Tile will propose an interim dividend at its meeting this month. Last year's dividend was Bt0.30 per share.

THE NATION
11 August 2010

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