Shares of Firich Enterprises Co (
Firich's stocks rose more than 14-fold within the last three-and-a-half years, to hit a peak at NT$985 on July 10, when the firm announced it would buy stakes in the Singaporean financial consulting firm Armarda Group.
Its shares closed at NT$865 on Friday.
Analysts attributed the company's strong performance to its early foray into the lottery and casino gaming segment.
"The lottery and gaming market in Asia has surpassed the US. This gives Asian makers including Firich a say in determining specifications of new gaming machines," Concord Securities Co (康和證券) said in a report dated July 9.
Macau casinos, for example, are expected to register sales of US$7.6 billion this year, up 10.5 percent from last year. Las Vegas gambling houses, meanwhile, will only post a 0.01 percent rise to US$6.7 billion, Concord statistics showed.
Asian companies faced a high entry barrier in the past, as US firms set most of the gaming specifications. But as Asians have ushered in more casinos and lotteries, Taiwanese industrial computer makers have rapidly cashed in on the gambling boom.
When Firich was listed on the over-the-counter GRETAI Securities Market on Dec. 15, 2003, at NT$70 per share, investors were unsure about the worth of the listing price as it was much higher than the NT$30 per share given to other POS makers.
Today, analysts are wondering when Firich will follow High Tech Computer Corp (
Firich made its first foray into the lottery market in 2003, when it landed a contract to supply lottery terminals to a South Korean client.
Last year, the Taipei-based company saw business further take off.
Firich commissioned Intralot, a Greek betting technology company, to contract-produce lottery terminals. It also jumped onto the Chinese sports lottery industry by successfully shipping 10,000 terminals to 16 provinces.
"Lottery business will account for as much as 60 percent of our total revenues this year, compared with last year's 40 percent," Firich chief financial officer Lai Ying-fu (
Product margins are lucrative, with Firich making as much as 35 percent on terminals to Intralot, Concord said.
Firich is not alone in pursuing the fortunes generated by rolling dice.
Axiomtek Co (艾訊), another Taipei-based industrial computer maker, is expecting sales of its casino gaming machines to account for over 10 percent of total revenues in the second half of this year.
"The gaming industry is now heating up and we will continue to make more efforts to ensure we gain a stronger footing in the business," Axiomtek spokesperson Spring Yang (
The company has key accounts from Europe and the US and is in talks with a handful of other US clients for possible deals, she said.
ICP Electronics Inc (
The company, which celebrated its 10th anniversary in April, reportedly obtained its first order of lottery machines from Gtech Holdings, a US online lottery system provider. It beat other rivals including Advantec Co (
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