Astino to market agro-house products in Vietnam and Indonesia

Building material and roofing product manufacturer Astino Bhd plans to tap new markets overseas in two years selling its agro-house and green-house structure products. Group chief executive officer Ng Back Teng said the group was now selling the products only in Malaysia. “We want to strengthen our presence in the country first before going overseas,” he said after the company’s AGM on Friday.

“We have in mind the markets in Vietnam and Indonesia.” At present, the products contribute less than 10% to the group’s revenue. “In the future, the contribution is expected to increase significantly,” he said. For the second financial quarter, the group’s business continued to be weak, due primarily to the slowdown in the construction sector, according to Ng. “The first quarter ended Oct 31, 2015 saw the group registering an 8%-9% drop in revenue. We expect the business for the second quarter to remain flat,” he said. Ng said the group had also reduced the import of steel-based materials due to the weakened ringgit.

The group has seven facilities in the country, with three in Penang, two in Bukit Beruntung (Selangor), one in Pahang, and another in Malacca. “There are no plans for expansion this year,” he said. Ng said the group would focus on improving operational efficiencies and explore the possibility of producing new metal building material products to penetrate into new local and overseas markets. He added that the second facility in Bukit Beruntung started operations in late 2015. “The new plant should help the group to strengthen its foothold in the central and southern regions,” he said. Astino shares shed 2.5 sen to close at 66.5 sen on Friday.