Boer Power to ride B&R into global markets

Boer Power runs a production line in Wuxi, Jiangsu province. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Hong Kong-listed Boer Power Holdings Ltd, a mainland company that provides intelligent power distribution systems and management solutions for energy efficiency, will expand into international markets to exploit opportunities presented by the Belt and Road Initiative.

It will also seek to increase its domestic market share by offering products and services to so-called smart cities being developed in China.

"We will expand our business rapidly to Southeast Asia, Central Asia, Africa and the Middle East," said Jia Lingxia, executive director and chief operating officer of Boer Power.

Earlier last week, the company released its financial results for the first half of this year.

Sales rose 51 percent year-on-year to 392 million yuan ($59.5 million) on the back of large-scale orders in the domestic and overseas markets.

The gross profit margin of the group was 28.5 percent, representing an increase of 13.9 percentage points as compared to the gross profit margin of 14.6 percent of the full year of 2016. Profit attributable to equity holders of the company increased to 2.3 million yuan.

"We will establish local subsidiaries (in other countries) at an appropriate time to reduce costs of business expansion and develop a global deployment mechanism that is sustainable, efficient, flexible and forward-looking," said Jia.

Sensing immense potential in overseas markets, Boer Power has already established subsidiaries or sales teams in Spain, Mexico, Indonesia and the United Arab Emirates.

It had also acquired Grupo Temper in Spain in 2013 and now has plans to provide smart home-automation products and solutions to many countries and regions in Asia, Africa and the Americas.

"At the beginning of this year, China announced that it would invest an additional 780 billion yuan in infrastructure in economies participating in the Belt and Road Initiative, pushing forward the implementation of national infrastructure projects. This has been stimulating demand for power distribution equipment in these regions, and has created opportunities for us to expand our business globally," Jia said.

On Aug 9, Boer Power announced a strategic cooperation agreement with over 10 real estate enterprises and related ancillary enterprises. Under this agreement, the company will actively explore opportunities in the field of intelligent real estate to expedite and enhance applications of its solutions.

Vigorous promotion of the National Smart City Strategy is one of the major initiatives under the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20). Now, the National Smart City Pilot Scheme is being implemented in over 30 provinces and regions in China.

"We firmly believe that the smart city business will be a new growth driver, enabling the company to increase its market share and strengthen its leading advantages," said Jia.

In 2015, the Chinese government had released a guidance on advancing smart grid development in China, aiming to initially establish by 2020 a two-way interactive smart grid network system that is safe, efficient and clean.

According to official data, during the 13th Five-Year Plan period, investments in construction and power distribution network upgrades in China will be up to 1.7 trillion yuan.

During the first half of this year, nationwide investments in power grid engineering were 239.8 billion yuan, up 10 percent year-on-year.

Li Jiayue contributed to the story.