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Qisda's profits strongest in three years

Local electronics maker Qisda Corp (佳世達), formerly known as BenQ Corp (明基), yesterday reported its strongest quarterly profits in three years because of asset gains.

Net income leapt to NT$2.83 billion (US$86.86 million) during the quarter ended last month, compared with losses of NT$12.22 billion a year ago and earnings of NT$570 million in the second quarter.

BenQ formally spun off its brand business last month and was renamed Qisda as part of the company's attempt to recover from the failure of taking over the unprofitable handset unit of Siemens AG.

"Sales of liquid-crystal-display [LCD] monitors, projectors and LCD TVs will grow quarter on quarter because of high season and an expanded customer portfolio," Qisda vice president David Wang (王淡如) said in a statement.

Qisda said it would ship LCD TVs and mobile phones to new customers in the current quarter, but it declined to comment on recent speculation about a new order of 500,000 flat-screen TVs from South Korea's LG Electronics Inc.

"It is too early to confirm such big orders since customers are still interested in the Qisda brand business," said industry analyst Lu Chia-lin (呂家霖) Yuanta Core Pacific Securities (元大京華證券).

Instead, Qisda may benefit from growing demand on seasonal factors for computer monitors, which make up 70 percent of the company's overall revenues, Lu said.

Qisda could see a 15 percent increase in revenues in the fourth quarter to NT$42 billion from NT$36.58 billion in the third quarter, Lu said.

He has faith in the company: "Qisda is on the track for a recovery and may return to the black in terms of operation level in the fourth quarter at the earliest."

Lu built his optimism on Qisda's complete digestion of handset inventories, which has been a drag for the company over the past few quarters.

The Taoyuan-based company posted widening operating losses of NT$1.39 billion for the third quarter, compared with losses of NT$80 million in the same period last year. But it represented an improvement from NT$1.9 billion in losses on a quarterly basis.

Non-operating income expanded to NT$4.29 billion from losses of NT$12 billion a year earlier mainly because of growing gains from its holdings in the nation's biggest flat panel maker AU Optronics Corp (友達光電) and selling assets including two buildings in the Neihu District of Taipei City, Qisda said.

Qisda holds an 8.11 percent stake in AU Optronics, which reported earnings of NT$22.57 billion last quarter.

Qisda shares slid 1.3 percent to NT$41.7 yesterday, versus a 1.51 percent gain of the benchmark TAIEX index.

The stock resumed trading last Monday after nine-day suspension following an announcement it was canceling 40 percent of its shares.
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