CJ Cheiljedang targeting sales of 15 tln won

CJ Cheiljedang Corp., South Korea's leading food manufacturer, said Tuesday that it will seek to more than triple its sales by 2015 by transforming into a new material-producing company. CJ Cheiljedang said that it is targeting 15 trillion won (US$14 billion) in sales in 2015, up from its 2010 sales of 3.96 trillion won. CJ Cheiljedang said that it will focus on biotechnology, expecting to record 3 trillion won in sales in 2015. It will produce methionine, an amino acid for animal feed, as the material's global market is estimated to be worth $4 billion, the company said. CJ Cheiljedang's biotechnology line registered 1.1 trillion won in overseas sales in 2010. In food business, its sales will reach 500 billion won this year on growing demand for Korean food, underpinned by its localization efforts and the so-called Korean Wave, a Korean pop culture boom in Asia that is extending around the world. "In the second half of this year, CJ Cheiljedang's operating profit will rise 20 percent from a year earlier on cost-cutting efforts and domestic and overseas business expansion," said Kim Chul-ha, the company's chief executive. CJ Cheiljedang's 2010 operating profit came to 207.7 billion won, down 20.7 percent from a year earlier.