CIRTEK Holdings Philippines Corp. is working on bringing down its manufacturing costs, resulting in more flexible price points, before entering new markets outside Europe and the United States.

The company’s products, which include semiconductors and antenna solutions, are primarily being shipped from its Laguna facility to areas in the US and Europe. Its acquisition of US-based antenna solutions provider Quintel last August further expanded its market in that country, adding to its list of clients the major telecom firms Verizon and AT&T.

“While we will continue focusing on the US market, we believe that we can probably accelerate our geographic footprint. But we have to do it strategically because we don’t want to be everywhere, [to] really focus on areas where we have a chance,” Cirtek Chief Finance Officer Anthony Albert S. Buyawe told reporters at a briefing at the company’s production hub in Laguna on Thursday.

Mr. Buyawe noted that the company would have to bring manufacturing costs down first before braving new markets.

“Now if we’re able to lower our cost structure then that will give us more flexibility in terms of pricing. So that’s one of the keys. We see that, okay, the US is still a great market for us, but if we want to grow our business we’ll probably have to grow in certain markets where pricing is more sensitive than the US,” he added.

Cirtek targets to release new products by the end of the year, which Mr. Buyawe said has the potential to be shipped to other countries.

“We see now that there are certain products that we believe will be applicable and could be sold to carriers outside the US,” Mr. Buyawe said.

The company is currently scaling up operations in its Laguna facility by increasing antenna production to 700 antennas per week from the current 500 per week. This will allow Cirtek to manufacture a total of 25,000 antennas every year, compared with its 18,000 capacity today.

Cirtek booked a net income attributable to the parent of $2.34 million in the first half of 2017, 33% higher than the $1.76 million it generated in the same period last year. Revenues meanwhile rose to $42 million for the period.

This year, the company has projected to generate $120 million in revenues, due to contributions from Quintel for five months.

Shares in Cirtek climbed by 0.12% or five centavos to close at P42 apiece at the Philippine Stock Exchange on Friday. – Arra B. Francia

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