KUALA LUMPUR: Chemical Company of Malaysia Bhd (CCMB) plans to grow its revenue by at least 30 per cent and double its profit over the next three years.Group Managing Director Nik Fazila Shihabuddin said the growth in both revenue and profit would be driven by expanding its core businesses of chemicals and polymers.She said the group has invested RM20.8 million to acquire land and a factory in Bandar Baru Bangi for the relocation of its polymers business and RM68.5 million for the re-activation of its Pasir Gudang chlor-alkali plant.“The relocation of the polymers business will enable the de-bottlenecking of the existing capacity of 18,000 tonnes a year by an additional 10 per cent by end-2018.“The reactivation of the Pasir Gudang plant is expected to produce an additional 20,000 electro chemical unit (ECU) per annum of chlor-alkali products from the current 40,000 ECU,” Nik Fazila told reporters after the annual general meeting and extraordinary general meeting here today.She said the steps taken would allow the business to capture the growing demand from various domestic industries who were supplied by imports.“The group is also setting up an RM8 million calcium nitrate facility in Shah Alam, which should be commissioned by the third quarter of 2018, to capture the expected growth in demand, particularly from the rubber glove industry.“Recognising the importance of research and development (R&D) in product innovation, we are investing RM1 million per year in R&D and aim to double this in 2018 to give our polymers business the competitive edge,” she added.For the first quarter ended March 31, 2018, CCMB posted a 14 per cent increase in revenue to RM101.40 million from RM88.94 million from the same quarter in 2017.Net profit, however, was slightly lower at RM10.36 million from RM11.75 million in the previous corresponding quarter.

Source: The Star June 01, 2018 08:48 UTC