Largan Precision Co Ltd (大立光), the world’s largest mobile phone camera lens maker, said yesterday that it expects sales in the fourth quarter of this year to continue to grow on rising global demand for smartphones.
Largan chairman Chen Shih-ching (陳世卿) said the company would see its sales hit a monthly high in December this year, with the China market expected to contribute a solid increase in revenue.
The company announced during an investor conference that its sales totaled NT$3.48 billion (US$113 million) in the third quarter, up 24.19 percent from the second quarter and up 42.11 percent from a year earlier.
During the same period, its net profit reached NT$1.24 billion, with earnings per share at NT$9.5, which was within market expectations.
The company’s gross margin stood at 47.11 percent in the third quarter, slightly down from 47.21 percent in the second quarter.
However, Chen said despite the expected sales growth in the fourth quarter, gross margin is expected to continue to fall because of higher costs of voice coil motors, one of major components of mobile phone cameras, and the impact of a rising New Taiwan dollar.
According to the company, its gross margin is expected to drop by between 1 percentage point and 1.5 percentage points every time the US dollar falls NT$1 against the local currency.
Since the beginning of September, the greenback has fallen 3.84 percent, or NT$1.233, against the NT dollar.
Meanwhile, Chen said higher quality five to eight-megapixel lenses accounted for more than 50 percent of the company’s total sales in the third quarter, adding that the ratio is expected to rise in the fourth quarter.
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