By Elizabeth Tchii
Staff reporter
Quanta Computer Inc (廣達電腦), the world’s largest manufacturer of laptops on a contract basis, yesterday posted first half revenues of NT$417.37 billion (US$13.23 billion), an increase of 31.93 percent compared with last year.
For the first six months, earnings after tax came in at NT$9.04 billion and gross margin was 5.27 percent, with earnings per share at NT$2.54, the company said.
The notebook manufacturer reported a second-quarter net profit of NT$5.034 billion, an increase of 26 percent on the previous quarter and an increase of 19 percent year-on-year. Earnings per share were NT$1.38 in the second quarter, up from NT$1.26 a year earlier, the Taoyuan-based company said.
The computer maker has a long list of customers that include Apple Inc, Cisco Systems Inc, Dell Inc and Hewlett-Packard Co.
“We are projecting a notebook shipment growth of 15 percent to 20 percent in the third quarter,” Quanta chairman Barry Lam (林百里) said at an investor conference yesterday. “Despite the widespread macroeconomic slowdown, we are still conservatively positive about the second half.”
The company shipped 8.7 million laptops in the second quarter, up 9 percent from the previous quarter. In total, Quanta shipped 16.7 million notebooks in the first six months of the year and the company reiterated its shipment target of 40 million units for the year.
Demand was strong in emerging markets, as was demand for new low-cost personal computers (PCs), the company’s vice chairman C.C. Leung (梁次震) told investors at the conference, adding that he was confident in achieving the shipment target this year.
Quanta’s shares were down NT$1.40, or 2.85 percent, to NT$47.80 at the close yesterday. The shares have risen 3.8 percent so far this year, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed.
On Thursday, the second-largest notebook computer maker in the world, Compal Electronics Inc (仁寶電腦), reported earnings of NT$3.22 billion in the second quarter, 1.1 percent lower compared with a year earlier, on revenues of NT$86.4 billion, a decline of 13 percent year-on-year.
Compal shares fell 1.89 percent to NT$28.5 yesterday on the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
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