BLUE Power is investing $20 million in solar photovoltaic (PV) systems for its three locations with the aim of cutting its electricity cost by 80 per cent.

But it’s the soap division on Victoria Avenue that will get the majority of the solar panels — 40 kilowatts (kW) of the total 64.

The offices at the soap factory will be equipped with a 12 kW system, while the Lumber Division in Papine, will also be fitted with 12 kW.

“The plan is to generate our own electricity from the use of the sun and that won’t happen until about December next year”, said Dhiru Tanna, the group’s chairman.

Blue Power’s administrative and other expenses increased by 12 per cent for the three months ended October 31, 2013, up from $30.5 million during the corresponding period last year to $34.3 million during the period under review.

Nevertheless, growth in revenue outpaced the rise in costs, translating into increased profits.

Net profit for the second quarter grew by 34 per cent, up from $18.8 million during the comparative period last year to $25.3 million during the three months to October 31.

Tanna attributes the improvement to the introduction of four new soaps — Blue Power Castile with Aloe Vera and Cocoa Butter, Laundry Soap Whitener and Blue Power Mosquito Repellent, which the company recently put on the market.

“Those new products helped to drive sales and we were lucky enough to get acceptance,” he said.

Revenues for the Blue Power Soap Division grew by 15 per cent, moving from $73 million during the comparative quarter last year to $84 million during the review period. The Lumber Depot Division’s revenue jumped by 42 per cent to $191 million.

Combined sales for the quarter was $275 million, an increase of 33 per cent, up from $208 million during the corresponding period last year.

The chairman hopes that its partnership with distributor and Jamaica Stock Exchange hopeful, Derrimon Trading, will get more of its products on supermarket shelves and eventually get 15 per cent market share of the local soap market, of which Blue Power now holds five per cent by Tanna’s estimates.

“We have a very small portion of the local bathing soap market and we are hoping to replace some of the imported soaps,” Tanna told the Business Observer.

The plan is to increase sales by increasing demand and not the prices, considering the company is competing with as much as 52 brands, he said.

As for exports, the company will focus on the local market rather than look to new export markets, said Tanna.

For the six months ended October 2013, the export sales fell by $3 million, from $15 million during the comparative period last year to $12 million.