The Straits Times / The Business Times News on Best World

Best World to sell Hyflux’s PureFlo

By Kenneth Lim - 12 February 2004
The Business Times

THE same day it announced a new consumer product, water-treatment membrane specialist Hyflux said it may make as much as $1 billion in revenue by selling water from its desalination plant over its 20-year contract.

'By selling water, we can actually get a very stable income,' CEO Olivia Lum said in a televised interview with Bloomberg News.

Hyflux, which was awarded Singapore's first desalination plant project, could reap revenue of between $30 million and $50 million a year by selling water from it, Ms Lum said.

The plant in Tuas is scheduled for completion next year. Potentially up for grabs are also management agreements from the government, which has built three NEWater plants and is planning a fourth.

Ms Lum told Bloomberg that the company will seek waste-water treatment contracts if the return is at least 10 per cent.

'Given their track record with desalination projects, that is certainly a workable strategy for them,' said fund manager Roy Phua, who helps manage the equivalent of $5.6 billion at DBS Asset Management, including Hyflux shares.

Just months after Hyflux started selling a water-from-air appliance at NTUC FairPrice and Courts stores, the company yesterday announced a new water filtration product to be sold through Best World Lifestyle.

Best World is a distributor and retailer run by former Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (ASME) president Dora Hoan.

Called PureFlo, the filter can be attached to taps and uses Hyflux's proprietary membrane technology. Ms Hoan said the product will be sold at $252 each, including GST.

PureFlo is already retailing in Singapore, and Ms Hoan expects to launch the filter in Malaysia by end-March, then in Thailand, Indonesia and China by the end of the year.

Although PureFlo will be priced at a 'slight premium' to existing filters in the market, Ms Hoan said PureFlo strains out more contaminants, such as viruses, and is conservatively expected to sell 20,000 to 30,000 units in Singapore this year.

Hyflux shares closed at $1.54 yesterday, up two cents.