Xinyi Glass Holdings (0868) is restarting efforts to spin off its solar glass business on the main board in Hong Kong.
"The newly-listed entity would focus on research and development of solar glass and the construction of solar power plant," chief executive Tung Ching-sai explained yesterday.
So far, however, Xinyi Glass has not filed any application for an initial public offering, though this idea of splitting the business was first proposed in 2011.
Xinyi's sales of solar glass rose slightly in 2012 to HK$1.35 billion, accounting for 13.8 percent of total revenue. But gross profit for the solar glass division was down 44 percent on 2011.
Tung believes that spinning off solar glass will lower the overall risk level for Xinyi. But float glass - Xinyi's main product line - also suffered a slide in gross profit last year.
Overall, though, gross profit for Xinyi Glass rose by 5.2 percent in 2012 from the previous year thanks mainly to government subsidies.
Full-year earnings for Xinyi Glass hit HK$1.19 billion in 2012, meaning the company recommended a final dividend of 9 HK cents.
"We expect demand for glass to rise this year on an improving euro zone economy and [rapid] urbanization in the mainland," Tung said.
Shares of Xinyi rose 0.96 percent to HK$5.21 yesterday. GRACE CAO
