TCL International, mainland handset and television maker, has raised its 2003 sales targets because of a strong performance in the first half.

The company said yesterday that it has raised its sales target for handsets to 9.5 million units from 9 million; 550,000 units from 500,000 units for PC sales; and 2.5 million from 2 million for its TV exports.

"We are optimistic about reaching these sales targets," Tomson Li, chairman of TCL International, said at a press conference.

TCL posted a 5 per cent increase in profit attributable to shareholders for the six months ended June 30 to HK$265 million (US$33.97 million) from a year earlier. Turnover amounted to HK$6.25 billion (US$801 million), up 16 per cent.

Basic earnings per share were 10.05 HK cents, representing a 0.2 per cent growth from a year earlier. The company said it did not recommend a payment of an interim dividend.

Though affected by the outbreak of SARS, TCL continued to record growth in domestic sales, Li said. "The performance of the overseas business was even more encouraging."

TCL reported that it sold 4.73 mobile handsets and 209,000 PCs in the first half, up 114 per cent and 138 per cent respectively from a year earlier. Its TV exports also recorded strong growth of 188 per cent from a year earlier to 1.47 million units, while its domestic TV sales rose 6 per cent to 3.25 million sets in the first half.

The company recorded a fall in the handsets gross margin to 20 per cent from 26 per cent in the second half of 2002 due to the keen competition on the mainland that dragged down handset prices and the huge inventory in the oversupplied market.

But compared to its rivals, TCL had already performed very well on the mainland, Li said.

"We expect a mild improvement in the handsets gross margin because the increasing sales of higher-priced colour display handsets will offset part of the general price reduction," he said.

The company ranks third in the sale of handsets on the mainland, with a market share of 12 per cent, according to the Ministry of Information Industry.

Statistics of the ministry also showed its TV sales took up 18 per cent of the market share on the mainland, making it the top TV seller in the country. And its PC sales rank fourth in the country, taking 3 per cent of the market share, TCL said citing figures of IT research firm IDC.

The company said it would seek opportunities to continue to expand its business globally and that it did not rule out the chance of looking for international strategic partners.

Earlier this year, Chinese TV makers were accused of undercutting their competitors to gain market share in the US, prompting the US government to consider anti-dumping measures against imports from the mainland.

Li said the company was well-prepared for such actions. He suggested one way of getting around any anti-dumping measure imposed by the US government was to move the production of the designated products to other countries, such as in Viet Nam or Indonesia.

(HK Edition 08/21/2003 page7)