Concepcion Industrial expects big share from new unit

CONCEPCION Industrial Corp. (CIC) is preparing its newly created research and development unit Cortex Technologies Corp. to become a major contributor to revenues by 2020.

“By our 2020 vision, we expect that this part eventually takes, around 20 to 25% of our business,” CIC Chairman and President Raul Joseph A. Concepcion told reporters after the company’s annual stockholders’ meeting in Makati City last week.

The listed maker of air-conditioners and refrigerators recently unveiled Cortex to the public, which Mr. Concepcion said is their investment in technology.

“It will really hold a large part of investment in new business, new technology. It will also be our new incubation for innovation and that will eventually become a going concern. We’re very excited about it,” the company said.

CIC said last January that it looks to spend P80 million for the development of the unit.

The company said that Cortex will be collaborating with CIC’s air-conditioner maker unit, Concepcion Carrier Air Conditioning Co., to introduce smart air conditioning to the mainstream market. This will allow consumers to monitor their energy consumption and real- time usage through a smart device attached to new window-type Carrier airconditioning units.

CIC said this will address the cost issue on power consumption from air-conditioners, as consumers will be able to control their usage.

The company earlier said that Cortex has the potential to be a third core business, as it currently operates consumer solutions and business, and industrial solutions.

Incorporated in 1997, CIC is the company behind air- conditioners and refrigerators under the Carrier, Toshiba, Condura, and Kelvinator brands.

Mr. Concepcion said he expects to see a single-digit growth in both earnings and revenues this year, amid the more challenging business environment in 2018 due to higher inflation and the weakening peso.

The company will be spending around P150 million to P200 million to expand capacity in existing plants this year, in order to support the demand for appliances in the coming years.

CIC’s profit after tax after minority interest increased by 12% in the April- to-June period of 2018, after sales grew by 14%. The company has yet to disclose specific figures of the secondquarter performance. —