Guan Chong expands European market share with UK facility

KUALA LUMPUR: Guan Chong Bhd is set to increase its market share in Europe as its recently-commissioned United Kingdom (UK) facility boosted the group’s annual industrial chocolate capacity by 16% or 16,000 tonnes to 116,000 tonnes.

In a statement, the cocoa grinder said the new facility in Suffolk, UK is strategically located close to the port of Felixstowe enabling it to serve chocolate makers and other clients across Europe, providing just-in-time local deliveries of liquid and solid products, as well as professional services such as technical support.

“This new facility in the UK will further cement our presence in the industrial chocolate market in Europe, integrating GCB’s essential role in the global chocolate supply chain. Europe remains the world’s largest chocolate consumption region, and hence we are optimistic of our venture,” managing director and CEO Brandon Tay Hoe Lian said in a statement.

“We have made good progress in unlocking SCHOKINAG’s potential by enhancing its capacity and efficiency in the past three years and will do the same for our UK facility by transferring the experience and technical expertise to ensure the success of this new operation,” he said.

“Moving forward, GCB will continue to assess the possibilities to optimise our operations in UK, Germany, United States, Ivory Coast, Malaysia, and Indonesia, as we strive to achieve our vision to be the ‘Preferred Cocoa and Chocolate Ingredients Supplier’.”

In the second quarter ended June 30, Guan Chong posted RM28.13mil net profit, a 37.0% decrease from RM44.61mil in the same quarter last year.

It posted revenue of RM1.16bil versus RM1.2bil previously, down 3.1% due to decreased sales volume of cocoa butter and cocoa powder.

However, the revenue decline was mitigated by higher average selling price of industrial chocolates as revenue from its German subsidiary rose by 20.9% to RM605.17mil, from RM500.73mil previously.

In the first half to June 30, the group’s revenue increased 3.4% to RM2.26bil versus RM2.19bil in the same period last year, while net profit decreased 47.0% to RM51.9mil in comparison to RM97.9mil due to lower grinding margins and higher finance cost.