Richard Lo, President of Techcomp. NextInsight file photo.SUDDENLY, THERE has been a surge in sales of Techcomp Holdings’ testing equipment following China’s recent – and ongoing - milk scandal.
SGX main board-listed Techcomp (www.techcomp.com.hk) is China’s leading manufacturer and distributor for analytical and life science instruments.
The spike up in demand for its instruments could provide a boost to its second-half results, which typically are stronger anyway because the majority of its customers are government funded and procurement usually occurs at the end of the year.
It said it has received strong orders from China’s leading dairy producers, including Mengniu, for its testing equipment to ensure that their dairy products are melamine free.
Melamine, a chemical normally used in plastics and other industrial processes, was used by milk manufacturers so that their products register a false increase in protein content.
The Chinese quality watchdog, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, has ordered shopping malls and supermarkets in China to display lists of safe dairy producers and products, and to put "safe" tags on items for sale.
This has spurred a demand for testing equipment that will certify the dairy product free of melamine.
As a result, Techcomp has experienced an increase in sales for High Performance Liquid Chromatographs (HPLCs) and Microplate Readers that can detect the presence of melamine in the products.
“Over the years we have work out various applications to improve testing methods and procedures. Recently we have also developed applications for the industry to properly and accurately test the presence of melamine in a particular product. This method involves using two of Techcomp’s testing equipment: The HPLC and Microplate Readers,” said Richard Lo, President & CEO of Techcomp.
”The dairy industry is a US$19 billionindustry and peoples’ lives are at stake. Whilst deeply concerned over the severity of the issue, we are nevertheless honoured that China’s dairy producers have turned to our testing equipment to ensure that their products are melamine free.”
By the way, this year is the 20th anniversary of Techcomp Holdings, which was founded by Richard Lo when he was 29. Over the years, without suffering a loss in any year, Techcomp has demonstrated that it is relatively resilient to any economic downturn.
After all, scientific equipment such as those it produces is always in demand from industries such as food & beverage, and environment.
Continuing its growth trajectory, the company reported sales and net profit for FY 07 to be US$65.8 million and US$6.0 million, respectively. That's up a handsome 20.0% and 38.2%, respectively, from the year before.
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