Li & Fung managing director William Fung Kwok-lun expects company turnover to double this year because of the acquisition of export firm Dodwell's, formerly part of Inchcape.
'The prospects this year are good. We will probably have one of the largest turnovers on the stock exchange at around US$1.5 billion,' Mr Fung said.
Dodwell's, also known as Inchcape Buying Services, extends the Li & Fung export business into much of western Europe and adds suppliers in India to the network, but operates at far lower margins than Li & Fung.
'We have an operating margin of 3.5 per cent. At Dodwell's it is much lower, only 0.8 per cent,' Mr Fung said.
Li & Fung will neither concentrate on raising prices nor cutting costs to raise Dodwell's margin.
Mr Fung said: 'We are going to add more value. Dodwell's has always operated by just finding a factory and then finding a buyer.
'At Li & Fung we are involved in finding the right raw materials, then the best source of labour, then the best source of quota and putting it all together for the customer.
