Merger, listing open up new world for Astron

Since winning the DHL-SCMP best enterprise award last year, the Astron Group has set up a new factory, seen sales soar 60 per cent, merged with a Singapore-based multinational and gone public.

No wonder then that Stephen Rees, chairman of the group, which makes $350 million a year from sales of miniaturised electronic components, says he has 'big projections for growth in the next few years'.

Founded in 1985 as Hong Kong PCB Co, Astron was taken over by Mr Rees, then head of Siemens' Asian and retail systems, in 1991, at a time when the group was ailing.

Since then, Astron has grown at least 50 per cent a year in terms of sales, the majority of which - 40 per cent - go to Europe, with Japan, the United States, and Korea and Malaysia taking up the rest.

Astron is not a retailer in the traditional sense, since most of its products are custom-made components for their multinational clients.

'Basically, we make things much smaller,' Mr Rees said. 'We make advanced interconnect solutions, putting bare chips on to substrates for the miniaturisation of components for mobile phones, hearing aids, sensors and pagers for clients like Siemens, Fujitsu, Philips and Motorola.' Astron also makes smart cards, as well as identification systems that can track trucks or cattle via satellite.