Simplo Technology Co (新普科技), the world’s largest notebook battery pack supplier, yesterday forecast third-quarter revenues would grow by between 12.68 percent and 14.33 percent from the second quarter, thanks to steady demand for laptop computers and tablet devices.
Demand for lithium polymer batteries has been on the rise continuously as ultra-thin notebook computers and tablet devices, such as Apple Inc’s iPad, were received strongly by the market, benefiting Taiwanese battery makers such as Simplo and Dynapack International Technology Corp (順達科技).
The Hsinchu-based Simplo now said it expects revenues to reach a record level of between NT$13.6 billion (US$468.4 million) and NT$13.8 billion this quarter, compared with NT$12.07 billion in the second quarter, according to a filing to the Taiwan Stock Exchange yesterday.
Simplo, about 40 percent of its revenues coming from Apple products this year, recorded NT$4.47 billion (US$154.5 million) in sales last month, up 5.9 percent from June. In the first seven months, cumulative revenues totaled NT$26.07 billion, up 22.61 percent from a year earlier, company data showed.
Raymond Sung (宋福祥), chairman and chief executive officer, said on the sidelines of an investors’ conference organized by the GRETAI Securities Market yesterday that he expects this month’s sales to reach another record high.
The company will post 20 percent to 30 percent growth in revenues for the whole of this year, higher than the 10 percent it recorded last year, he added
“The macro environment of the notebook industry is not as good as it has been in the past, expected to grow only slightly by 2 percent this year, but our shipments of laptop battery packs are forecast to rise 10 percent to 20 percent, with the tablet PC segment the major driver,” Sung said.
The company yesterday predicted pre-tax income in the July-to-September period would expand by a range of between 3.84 percent and 6.26 percent from the previous three months on the back of increasing sales of high-end notebooks and additional income from non-core businesses.
As a result, pre-tax income would increase to between NT$1.16 billion and NT$1.19 billion in the third quarter, from NT$1.12 billion in the previous quarter, the company said. Net income is estimated to total NT$999 million in the third quarter, up NT$48 million from the second quarter, it added.
Based on the company’s 280 million issued shares, third-quarter net income would translate into NT$3.57 in earnings per share, up from NT$3.39 in the previous quarter.
However, gross margin would fall from 12.7 percent to 12.2 percent in the third quarter, the company said.
Simplo shares rose limit-up to NT$211 on the GRETAI yesterday. The stock has dropped 6.84 percent so far this year.
Additional reporting by CNA
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