Local electronic component supplier Lite-On Technology Corp (光寶科技) yesterday reported a nearly four-fold increase in net income for the first quarter and said it expected growth momentum to continue in the coming quarters this year.
The Neihu-based company said in a statement that its net income grew 384 percent to NT$1.81 billion (US$54.7 million), or NT$0.82 in earnings per share (EPS), in the first three months from a year ago.
However, the firgure dropped 29.3 percent from a NT$2.56 billion profit, or NT$1.16 per share, in the final quarter of last year, according to the company’s financial data.
Based on the latest financial results, Lite-On saw a steady sequential growth in sales in all of its core business units in the first quarter, leading to a quarterly increase of 0.39 percent in consolidated revenue of NT$28.67 billion.
On a yearly basis, the first-quarter figure rose 47 percent from the same period of last year and represented the highest levels since the third quarter of 2008, when it posted NT$37.81 billion in sales.
LED modules used in LED TVs and monitors, for instance, saw revenue increase 59 percent year-on-year and 4 percent quarter-on-quarter. Its camera module business reported 46 percent growth year-on-year in sales and a 10 percent increase quarter-on-quarter, while power supply products used in notebook computers, desktop computers and servers posted 28 percent growth year-on-year and 10 percent growth from the previous quarter.
Gross margin was 12.4 percent in the first three months, down 2.2 percentage points from the previous quarter because of a rise in material and labor costs, but up 0.1 percentage points from a year earlier, the company said.
Operating margin was up 73 percent to 5.2 percent from last year.
Lite-On said it expected operating results to grow throughout this year, thanks to a better product mix and increased productivity and operating efficiency.
For the current quarter, “strong sales are expected in core businesses overall … [and] profit margins are anticipated to improve sequentially,” the company said in the statement.
Separately, the company’s board yesterday agreed to a proposal to distribute NT$2.25 in cash dividends per share and NT$0.05 in stock dividends each (or five shares per 1,000 held) to shareholders based on last year’s earnings of NT$7.05 billion, or an EPS of NT$3.2.
This gives a dividend payout ratio of 72 percent and dividend yield of 5.4 percent based on its closing share price of NT$41.5 yesterday, which Lite-On said was in line with its policy of maintaining a stable and generous dividend for shareholders.
HON HAI RESULTS
Meanwhile, Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), the nation’s largest electronics manufacturer, said last night in a statement that its first-quarter net income rose 34.76 percent to NT$17.99 billion from a year earlier.
Diluted earnings per share rose to NT$2.08 for the quarter from NT$1.57 last year, it said.
First-quarter profit, however, was 37.97 percent lower than the NT$29 billion posted in the previous quarter, according to the company, which manufactures Sony TVs, HP printers and Apple iPhones.
Unconsolidated revenue rose 49.2 percent to NT$414.77 billion in the first quarter from NT$278 billion a year earlier, the company reported on April 9.
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