T.N.C. Industrial to set up joint venture factory in mainland China

Taipei, July 31, 2003 (CENS)--T. N. C. Industrial Co., Ltd., a main local manufacturer of coating chemicals listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange, will cooperate with SNPE of France to establish a joint venture factory of nitrocellulose in the east of mainland China.

T. N. C. Industrial's board of directors recently approved the joint venture project, with the company and SNPE to invest US$5.5 million each. The nitrocellulose factory will have an annual production capacity of 30,000 metric tons, with a production line of 15,000 metric tons to be set up this year and the other line of the same capacity in 2004.

T. N. C. Industrial is the only producer of nitrocellulose in Taiwan at present. The company currently operates two nitrocellulose factories separately in Shanghai and Henan Province of mainland China, with each turning out 8,000 metric tons a year for a combined market share of 30% there. After the joint venture factory comes into operation, the company will be among the world's top three producers of nitrocellulose.

On the other hand, T. N. C. Industrial's board of directors decided to terminate the operation of the company's electronics business division because of unsatisfactory performance. Moreover, the board decided to sell the company's 30% stake in Gainward Co., Ltd., a main local producer of graphics cards, to Prolink Microsystems Corp., another local producer of such cards.

T. N. C. Industrial posted revenue of NT$805 million, pretax profit of NT$81.75 million, and earnings per share of NT$0.5 for the first half of this year.