Juken specializes in manufacturing a wide variety of precision gears. Its moulded plastic components are used in automotive, cameras, office equipment, utility meters and data storage, as well as medical and household / industrial appliances.
1H10 group sales grew 82% to reach S$33.9 million, with the newly acquired businesses contributing S$5.2 million (15%) to 1H2010 top-line.
Its other component businesses also posted strong growth, thanks to pent-up demand, especially from the automotive sector. Sales grew at all Juken’s factories in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, China, India, Indonesia and Europe.
”Our strategy is to expand from component to instruments,” said executive chairman, Mr David Wong Keng Yin during an investor briefing at CIMB Invest Center last Tues.
Juken acquired stepper motors and car clock businesses from Swatch subsidiaries, Microcomponents and Zhuhai SMH Watchmaking, in March for about S$6.2 million.
Until now, this stepper motor technology has resided largely with major European players such as Microcomponents and some Japanese players.
Microcomponents has produced and sold more than 300 million stepper motors since inception in the early 1990s and has set global standards for automotive instrument cluster motors.
Following the acquisition, Juken will produce and market the motors under the “JST” (Juken Swiss Technology) brand.
The company will recognize six months of contribution from the stepper motor business in 2H2010 and a full twelve months in FY2011.
”Analogue clocks are becoming the vogue in high performance automobiles,” said Mr Wong and highlighted that the newly acquired car clock business uses Breitling chronometers in its analogue clocks.
Breitling is a luxury watch brand, and is known for its chronometers for aviation use.
In its 1H2010 results, Juken's cash and cash equivalents increased by $1.4 million to reach S$9.5 million as at 30 June.
