PH air-con maker earmarks P200M for expansion
Concepcion Carrier Air-conditioning Co. (CCAC) is spending as much as P200 million this year to finance the expansion of its manufacturing facility in Laguna to accommodate the growing demand for quality cooling solutions both here and abroad.
At the sidelines of the Condura Extreme model launch Thursday, CCAC chief executive officer Raul Joseph Concepcion said the capital expenditure budget for 2012 would allow the company to expand its production capacity by 15 to 20 percent from the about 400,000 air-con units a year.
“We continue to invest in facilities to increase the capacity for export and also because of how the market in the Philippines has been changing,” Concepcion said.
The CCAC official stressed the need to continuously invest in new facilities not only to suit the changing needs and wants of the Philippine market, but also to enable the company to “really compete in the market place.”
“To be able to compete, you have to improve current production. Air-con prices are going down. What we are looking in our expansion activities is how to increase productivity. Also, consumer preferences are changing—people want energy efficiency, less noise, filters,” Concepcion said.
“We are competing not only with other Philippine-based firms, we are also competing with foreign, multinational brands,” he added.
Concepcion further noted that the continued expansion of CCAC’s manufacturing facility would allow the company to reach its target revenue for the year of P4.5 billion to P5 billion, up from the P4 billion last year.
At the same time, CCAC will also be able to further expand its presence in the international market, with an end-target of growing the exports of air-con units by ten-fold within a 10-year period, as well as increasing the share of exports in the revenue mix to as high as 50 percent. Currently, exports accounted for 15 to 20 percent of total revenue, according to Concepcion.
CCAC air cons are currently sold in 10 countries including the United States, Argentina, Brazil, Hong Kong, Australia and Malaysia.—Amy R.Remo
