Bright Food (Group) Co targets a net profit growth of 16.7 percent this year and plans billions of yuan of investment, the company said yesterday.

Shanghai-based food giant targets a net profit of 700 million yuan (US$96.7 million) this year, up from 600 million yuan in 2007, said Cao Shumin, president of Bright Group.

The firm expects to generate 50 billion yuan in sales revenue this year, up 11.1 percent from a year ago, Cao said.

"Our strategy is to build Bright Group into a conglomerate with subsidiaries strong in their focus areas," Cao said.

The group, set up in 2006, is consolidating its subsidiaries with similar business scope to enjoy economies of scale to cut costs and enhance efficiency.

Bright Group's subsidiaries are involved in dairy, supermarket, rice wine, logistics and property businesses. There are four listed companies under Bright Group's umbrella.

For instance, its Shanghai-listed subsidiary Shanghai Haibo Co will focus on its logistics business and shed other business.

The consolidation of its Kedi and Alldays convenient store chains will also be deepened.

Meanwhile, the company is looking at the refinancing plan for listed subsidiaries although there are no concrete details yet. The company is also eying listing of NGS Real Estate, but it has not been decided whether it should go for an initial public offering or a back-door listing, and the timetable is also not firmed up yet.

The food giant also plans to invest 6.25 billion yuan this year in eight major projects, including in farming, shopping mall and rice wine making.

The group plans to add a production line of 100,000 tons of rice wine to nearly double its yearly capacity to 220,000 tons.

(Shanghai Daily January 23, 2008)