Minth Group Limited. Business Report FY ended Dec. 2014
Business Highlights
Financial overview
| (in million yuan) | FY ended Dec. 31, 2014 | FY ended Dec.31,2013 | Rate of Change | Factors |
| Sales | 6,683.88 | 5,510.39 | 21.30% | -Steady growth in overseas markets; 1) -Global orders increased due to global vehicle increaed; -Acquisition of stake in the joint venture. |
| Gross profit | 2,085.21 | 1,818.57 | 14.66% | -Improve productivity and efficiency of control -Improve material utilization -Implementation of centralized procurement |
| Profit before tax | 1,355.76 | 1,225.20 | 10.66% | |
| Profit for the year | 1,152.93 | 1,029.41 | 12.00% |
1)
-The Company's overseas turnover grew to approximately CNY 2,554.03 million, representing an increase of approximately 46.5% year-on-year.(From the Company's 2014 annual report)
Gross Profit
-In 2014, the Company's gross fit margin was approximately 31.2%, representing a year-on-year decrease of approximately 1.8% from the 33.0% achieved in 2013. This was mainly due to several factors: reductions in product selling prices of the Group's products, increased labour costs, and acquisition of stake in the joint venture. Through continuous improvement of manufacturing processes and technologies, better utilizing materials and implementation of centralized procurement, the Company continued to enhance the efficiency of both production and management to maintain the overall gross profit margin at a decent level. (From the Company's 2014 annual report)
Contracts
-In 2014, the Company supplied for Nissan "Qashqai", Honda "Vezel", new BMW "5-series". The Company won contracts of luggage racks for new Audi "Q5". The Company also won contracts from Bentley, Audi, BMW, Mercedes, Cadillac, Infiniti and other high-end customers.
-In 2014, the Company's aluminum products entered VW Group global supply system and won aluminum products contract from Nissan Infiniti.
New Company
-In February 2014, Huzhou Minchi Automobile Co., Ltd., the Company's subsidiary, was established.
Acquisition
-Enboma Investments Limited, which is owned indirectly by the Company, and Sojitz Corporation signed an agreement that Enboma acquired all the shares (a 45.99 percent stake) that Sojitz owns in Plastic Trim International (PTI) in Michigan, U.S.A. After Eboma acquired the stock, it would own 95.81 percent of the joint venture, while Huge Leader Investments Limited will continue to own 4.19 percent. PTI thereby became a member of the Minth Group. PTI manufactures plastic injection molding and extraction molding parts. The Company announced that Enboma Investments Limited, its indirect subsidiary, will acquire the remaining 4.19 percent share in Plastic Trim International (PTI) owned by Huge Leader Investments Limited for USD 450,000. After completion of the transaction, PTI will be a wholly owned subsidiary of Enboma. (From an announcement by the Company on July 2, 2014)
R&D activities
-The Group has R & D centers in China, Japan, North America and Germany.
R&D facilities
| Company Name | R&D activities | Location | Shareholding (%) |
| Shanghai Cogen Research and Design Co., Ltd. | Design of automobile exterior and interior decorative parts | Shanghai | 100 |
| Ningbo Minth Automotive Parts Research & Development Co., Ltd. | Design consulting on stamping dies and auto parts | Ningbo Zhejiang |
100 |
R&D Expenditure
| FY ended Dec. 31, 2014 (million yuan) |
FY ended Dec. 31, 2013 (million yuan) |
FY ended Dec. 31, 2012 (million yuan) |
|
| R&D Expenditure | 298.71 | 259.78 | 231.84 |
| Ratio of R&D expenses to | 4.47% | 4.71% | 5.35% |
Patents
-In 2014, the Group filed 230 patent applications for approval and 202 patent applications were authorised by the competent institutions.
Technical alliance
| Partner | Agreement |
| Sankei Giken Holdings Co.,Ltd. | To provide technology, technological support, and expertise on certain types of auto-parts to the Group and to grant non-exclusive rights to use the technological expertise to manufacture auto-parts for Guangzhou Honda and Dongfeng Honda (Wuhan ). |
| AAPICO Hitech Public Company Limited | To provide technical services and activities related to the design, manufacture, sale, import, export and after-sales services of automobile components in Thailand. |
| Tokai Kogyo Co., Ltd. | To provide technological support. |
Investment in China
-The Company announced that it would invest USD 50 million to establish a major auto parts plant in Qingyuan City, Guangdong Province. The company and the local government have already signed a letter of intent for the project. (From news releases issued by multiple sources on January 10, 2014)