Glas Aire Industries Group Opens Upgraded Facility
2 November 1999
Glas Aire Industries Group Opens Upgraded Facility
VANCOUVER, British Columbia--November 2, 1999--Leading Manufacturer Of Wind Deflectors For Global Automaker Market Inaugurates Vancouver Plant Addition To Meet Increasing Demand
Glas Aire Industries Group Ltd. , a leading high-quality manufacturer and marketer to automobile manufacturers of wind deflector accessories, announced today the official opening here of a $700,000 state-of-the-art addition to its factory and corporate headquarters building.
The new 3,000-sq. ft. addition accompanied the renovation of another 3,000-sq. ft. of existing space in the company's 30,000-sq. ft. facility, following a recent surge in increased sales to export and domestic markets.
Commenting on the new plant addition and renovation, Glas Aire President Alex Ding said: "Just in the last five months, we've had to almost triple the size of the Glas Aire team, from 60 to 170. The company finished the first half of the year with an almost 50 percent increase in sales and substantial growth in gross profits as well as net income compared to the same period last year. This added manufacturing space and renovation will enable us to seamlessly meet the increasing demand."
Mr. Ding noted that the positive sales were attributable to increases in automotive manufacturers business, both domestic and imported, especially in the United States and Japan. Over 80 percent of Glas Aire sales are to major U.S. automakers, including U.S. subsidiaries of foreign automobile manufacturers.
Glas Aire's president also paid tribute to the Government of Canada for its contribution to the company's success and support from the Canadian Secretary of State. The Honorable Raymond Chan, Federal Secretary for Asia Pacific, participated in the recent inaugural ceremony for the company's new facilities on behalf of the Secretary of State Western Economic Diversification (WD), The Honorable Ron J. Duhamel. Mr. Chan referred in particular to funding assistance from Western Economic Diversification Canada (WD) for R&D expenditures associated with developing a new, more effective manufacturing process of thermoformed plastic automotive accessories. "We believe WD has been instrumental not only in our market penetration into Japan but also in our development of various processes that increased our competitiveness and improved our business in North America," Mr. Ding said.
Glas Aire, with annual revenues of approximately $10 million, designs and makes sunroof wind deflectors, hood deflectors, rear-air deflectors and door visors for cars, light trucks and vans. The company, based in Vancouver, British Columbia, has a distribution center in Bellingham, Washington.
Founded in the early 1980's as a family business engaged in acrylic-based product development and manufacture, Glas Aire became affiliated in August 1999 with Regency Affiliates Inc. (OTC BB: RAFF). In addition to the auto accessories market, Stuart, Florida based Regency, has holdings in the residential and commercial furnishings market, commercial real estate and natural resources.
This press release includes forward-looking statements as defined in the private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, as they are subject to various risks and uncertainties which may cause actual results to vary significantly. These risks include (but are not limited to) those related to: timely product and technology development/upgrades; market acceptance of new products and continuing product demand; the impact of competitive products and pricing on the Company's and its customers' products and markets; changing economic conditions and exchange rates worldwide; development, release and sales of new products by strategic suppliers and customers; development and growth of anticipated markets for the Company's and its customers' products; and other risk factors detailed in the Company's most recent annual report, its prospectuses, and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company assumes no obligation to update the Information in this release.
This release can be found on the KCSA Public Relations Website at www.kcsa.com.