Components manufacturer Lite-On Technology Corp (光寶科技) yesterday reported a net profit of NT$1.7 billion (US$348.6 million), or NT$0.77 per share, for the second quarter, up 17.92 percent from a quarter earlier, on the back of growth in its optoelectronics business.
Lite-On’s major businesses include a camera module unit, an LED backlight module unit, a notebook computer power supply unit, a desktop computer and server unit, as well as a keyboard unit.
“The improving earnings in the second quarter were driven by the camera module unit’s market share gains and strong shipments in the tablet PC and smartphone markets globally,” chief executive Terng Kuang-chung (滕光中) told a media briefing.
The company expects third-quarter consolidated sales to keep rising at a single-digit pace amid stable growth for all its units, Terng said.
In addition, fourth quarter sales still remain uncertain as the company’s major customers have not sent any signals, he added.
However, Lite-On Technology would retain its capacity expansion plan in its keyboard and camera module units, Terng said, adding that the camera module unit would continue to top the growth in the third quarter.
However, Terng said a rebound in LED backlight industry was still a ways off, as the current supply in the market is too high to be fully digested.
“It could take more than one or two quarters for the industry to return,” he said.
Terng said Hewlett-Packard Co’s (HP) plan to spin off its PC business and Google Inc’s purchase of Motorola Mobility has made him realize the company’s clients might have to be expanded or changed after 2013.
In the first six months of the year, cumulative sales dropped 3.98 percent to NT$58.57 billion compared with the same period last year, company financial data showed.
Net profit stood at NT$3.15 billion, or NT$1.41 per share in the first half of the year, compared with a total of NT$4.27 billion, or 1.94 per share, in the previous year, data showed.
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