Corporate Profile
Fedders Corporation, headquartered in Liberty Corner, New Jersey, is a leading global manufacturer of air treatment products, including air conditioners, air cleaners, dehumidifiers and humidifiers, and thermal technology products. Manufacturing facilities in Asia are located in Ningbo, Shanghai, Quanzhou, Xi'an, Suzhou and Nanjing, China, as well as in Dadra, India and Paranaque, Philippines. Manufacturing facilities in the United States are located in Illinois, North Carolina, New Mexico, New Jersey, and Texas. All products are manufactured to Fedders' single standard of quality, worldwide.
In 2002, Fedders continued its strategy to expand its presence in new and existing markets by establishing its first factory in India and four new factories in China. These markets represent the greatest potential for growth for air treatment products. Fedders will continue to expand its presence in all of Asia and strengthen its position in North America by seeking additional strategic acquisitions and alliances. In March 2003, Fedders announced that it entered into a joint venture in Nanjing, China with the largest retailer of split type air conditioners in China, the Suning Appliance Group. The joint venture, Fedders Suning Nanjing Co. Ltd. will manufacture split-type air conditioners in China for the domestic Chinese market and for export to the rest of the world.
Also in 2002, Fedders established a strategic manufacturing presence in India, the second most populous country in the world. The newly established company, Universal Comfort Products Private Ltd., is a joint venture with Voltas Limited, a leading seller of air conditioners in India. The operation produces a broad line of window and split system air conditioners for the domestic Indian consumer market and for export.
Fedders Appliances, manufacturer and marketer of room air conditioners and dehumidifiers for consumer markets in the United States and Canada, in 2002 acquired an air conditioner manufacturing operation in Shanghai, China. Fedders Shanghai Co., Ltd. is an ISO 9001 certified facility with the capacity to produce over one million room air conditioner units per year, making it the company's largest supplier of product. Fedders Appliances also maintains a North American manufacturing base at its Effingham, Illinois factory.
Rotorex Company, Fedders' rotary compressor subsidiary, entered into a joint venture in January 2002 with Dong Fang Electromechanical, to manufacture rotary compressors for air conditioners, in Xi'an, China. Xi'an Fedders Dong Fang Air Conditioner Compressor Co., Ltd. provides Fedders, and other air conditioner manufacturers, a source of high efficiency compressors.
Enhancing its competitive position as a world leader in thermoelectric products, Fedders' subsidiary, Melcor Corporation, a manufacturer of thermoelectric products, in 2002 formed a joint venture company, Quanzhou Melcor Hua Yu Thermoelectric Company, Ltd., in Quanzhou, China. Melcor Hua Yu, along with Melcor's manufacturing facility in Trenton, New Jersey, manufactures products that provide precise temperature control in such advanced technology applications as medical appliances and laser technology.
Fedders Indoor Air Quality consists of the company's Envirco, Trion and Herrmidifier products with North American production facilities in North Carolina and New Mexico. In February 2002, Fedders Indoor Air Quality established a manufacturing base in Suzhou, China to manufacture residential, commercial and industrial air cleaner products. This facility strengthens the company's position in the high-growth Chinese market. Envirco produces HEPA and ULPA air cleaners for cleanroom applications in the semiconductor and medical markets. Trion provides commercial and industrial markets with a full range of products to meet their clean air needs as well as Herrmidifier humidification systems that are used in both residential and industrial/commercial applications.
Fedders Unitary Products, through Fedders Eubank Company, Inc., provides unitary air conditioning equipment for commercial and residential applications to markets around the world. Product lines include residential central air conditioning systems, including condensing units, air handlers, gas furnaces, air cleaners and humidifiers, as well as packaged air conditioners for residential, commercial and telecommunications applications. In 2002, Fedders Unitary Products began manufacturing 1.5 to 5 ton cooling and heat pump condensing units in China, providing low cost, high quality product for global markets.
Since 1995, Fedders' first joint venture in China, Fedders Xinle, has been manufacturing air conditioners for global consumer and commercial/industrial markets. Throughout the last seven years, Fedders Xinle has grown in capacity and quality, allowing the joint venture to better serve the global air treatment markets.
Also serving global commercial/industrial markets is Fedders Koppel, a leading manufacturer of room and packaged air conditioners in the Philippines, acquired by Fedders in 2000. This facility gives Fedders an increased share of the Philippine market and provides an expanded presence in the strategically important ASEAN region.
Fedders International sales offices are strategically located around the world to serve the needs of our customers in major growth markets for all of the company's air treatment products. In Asia, sales offices are located in China, India, the Philippines, Hong Kong and Singapore. Polenz, the largest distributor of air conditioners in Germany, acquired by Fedders in 2001, and Trion Ltd. in the United Kingdom sell the company's products throughout Europe. Fedders International's Miami office serves the Latin American markets.
Fedders continues to actively pursue additional strategic acquisitions and alliances to support continued growth in new and existing markets.
The company's Common Stock trades on the NYSE under the symbol FJC.
