Largan Precision Co (大立光), the nation’s leading maker of handset lenses, saw its consolidated revenue reach a record high of NT$1.47 billion (US$50.46 million) last month, according to information posted on the company’s Web site yesterday after the stock market’s close.
The monthly growth of 6.13 percent in last month’s consolidated sales was the fastest since the 32.62 percent increase it recorded in March, company data showed.
On a yearly basis, last month’s sales grew 25.2 percent, representing its slowest pace since October 2009 when Largan posted an annual increase of 12.96 percent, the data showed.
SMARTPHONE DEMAND
The Greater Taichung-based company — whose customers include HTC Corp (宏達電), Apple Inc, Nokia Oyj and Research In Motion Ltd — has reported record sales for five consecutive months on rising demand for smartphones.
In the first eight months of this year, accumulated revenue reached NT$10.43 billion, up 44.48 percent from NT$7.22 billion a year earlier, the company’s data showed.
Last month, Largan told an investors teleconference that monthly sales in the current quarter would trend up every month, but it did not provide any numbers.
IPHONE EFFECT
Analysts have projected Largan would post another record figure this month because Apple is likely to begin shipping its next-generation iPhone — the iPhone 5 — this month and because of rising contribution from the company’s 5-megapixel (MP) and 8MP lenses, which are priced higher than lower-resolution 2MP and 3MP lenses.
Citigroup analyst Kevin Chang (張凱偉) predicted in a client note on Aug. 18 that Largan would post NT$2.14 billion in revenue this month and NT$4.99 billion for this quarter.
Largan’s revenues reached NT$4.07 billion in the second quarter and NT$3.51 billion in the first quarter.
Lu Chia-lin (呂家霖), a Taipei-based analyst at Samsung Securities (Asia) Ltd, said in a report on Aug. 18 that he expected Largan to post a 13 percent increase in sales quarter-on-quarter this quarter, or revenues of NT$4.6 billion for this quarter and NT$1.74 billion for this month.
Largan’s share price dropped 4.32 percent to NT$820 yesterday as the stock market retreated becasue of concerns over global economic growth after the US jobs market stalled last month.
The stock has increased 13.1 percent so far this year versus a 15.84 percent decline for the benchmark TAIEX, data from the Taiwan Stock Exchange showed.
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