Largan Precision Co (大立光), the nation’s leading maker of camera phone lenses, yesterday posted a weaker gross margin in the third quarter as non-operating expenses dragged down profitability.
The margins dropped to its second-lowest level in history to 41.7 percent, compared with 43.22 percent in the first quarter and 45.63 percent in the second. Net income for the first three quarters was NT$1.6 billion (US$49.33 million), down 35 percent from last year’s NT$2.4 billion.
The production facilities’ relocation came at a cost of NT$35 million in the third quarter and affected production utilization rate.
Coupled with currency exchange losses totaling NT$24 million, Largan saw non-operating losses hit nearly NT$60 million in the third quarter, which dragged down gross margins as a whole, company chief financial officer Charles Chiu (邱東泉) told a teleconference yesterday.
Chiu said that fourth-quarter revenues could post single-digit growth or maintain similar level to the third quarter’s NT$2.45 billion.
The firm saw demand for its lower-resolution video-graphics-array lenses and 2-megapixel lenses going down in the third quarter, but saw more orders coming in for lenses of 3 megapixels and 5 megapixels.
It saw greater momentum from China in the past few months, with module shipments covering mid and high end, auto-focus 3-megapixel camera lenses, Chiu said.
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