PCH invests millions in new Chinese manufacturing plant

Contact info:
Tracy A. Lee

111 NE 11th Street Map
Grand Prairie, TX 75050
Tel: (972) 602-1478
Fax: (972) 660-2845
tlee@firstexind.com

Firstex Industries
has expertise in these areas:

Product Links

News from the Import Industry

June 19, 2009

PCH invests millions in new Chinese manufacturing plant

Entrepreneur Liam Casey is investing millions of euro in a new manufacturing plant in China. The facility in Tianjin, the sixth-largest city in China, is the fifth Chinese operation for Casey’s supply chain firm, PCH International.

Casey, who won the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award in 2007, said the new factory would work on products for clients in the telecoms sector. He said PCH already had deals with a number of the world’s largest telecoms businesses and he expected significant growth in the telecoms market.

Established in 1996, PCH designs, manufactures and distributes electronic products for more than 80 companies around the world, ranging from start-up firms to large multinationals.

‘‘We don’t talk about our clients, but most of them are household names,” said Casey. He said they included three of the world’s top five personal computer manufacturers and three of the top five consumer electronic companies.

According to Casey, PCH provides a ‘‘full service’’ for electronic and medical devices companies which want to outsource manufacturing to China. He said the firm’s business had picked up over the past six months, with many of its customers seeking to cut costs and outsource other aspects of their operations in light of the global economic downturn.

The Cork-born businessman said revenues at PCH increased by 23 per cent in the first quarter of the year, compared with last year. He expects PCH to have total revenues of between $145 million and $150 million this year.

‘‘A lot of our growth has been organic, existing customers who are using us more. We have also secured new customers. It is a tough and challenging market, but we are performing very well. We have kept our head down and worked hard,” Casey said.

PCH had invested $15 million expanding and improving its operations in the past four years, said Casey. Because of the high level of investment, the company has reported operating losses in recent years, with losses of $12.7million in 2007.

However, Casey said the firm would return to profitability in the coming months and would be in a position to post a significant profit next year.’ ‘Our losses were planned, because we were investing heavily for the future. We would now expect to return to profitability by the third quarter of this year,” said Casey.

To help fund the company’s expansion, PCH last year raised $21million from three Silicon Valley venture capitalists, Light speed Venture Capital, Norwest Venture Partners and Focus Ventures. Casey said their investment had provided PCH with the working capital to bring the company to the next stage of its development. ‘‘We started out as a trading company.

Then we moved on a few years later and started to get involved in manufacturing and supply chain management. It is important always to have an eye to the future,” said Casey. He said the company would not be seeking any further funding and had a healthy balance sheet. ‘‘There is plenty left in the tank to get us to the next level,” he said.

Casey said the company had expanded and now employed more than 800 people, most of them in China.

PCH also has operations in Brazil, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and the US, where it has offices in Austin, Texas, and in San Jose, California.

However, the company’s headquarters remain in Cork, where PCH employs about 20 people. Casey said Ireland’s location - halfway between the east coast of China and the west coast of the US - gave it a ‘‘great opportunity’’ to benefit from international trade. That meant that Ireland effectively had a ‘‘26-hour working window’’ each day, he said.

‘‘We did not invent GMT, but it plays right into our hands,” he said.

‘‘There is a huge opportunity there for Irish companies. We could become a datahub. There are certain things Irish people are good at. It is very hard to have a manufacturing business in Ireland, but we can really become a data hub, a place where China meets America.”

By Ian Kehoe - 14 June 2009

SOURCE: The Post.IE

[ Back to top ]

Firstex Industries

Site menu:

Product Links

News from the Import Industry