Catcher Technology Co (可成), one of Taiwan’s leading suppliers of metal casings for electronic gadgets, said on Saturday its net profit for the third quarter hit a record high because of the booming global smartphone business.
Catcher, which makes casings for Apple Inc’s iPhone and Taiwanese smartphone firm HTC Corp (宏達電), posted NT$3.69 billion (US$124 million) in consolidated net profit for the third quarter, up 55.6 percent from the second quarter and also up 250.3 percent from a year earlier.
The company said it had earnings per share in the July--September period of NT$5.06, up from NT$3.43 recorded in the previous quarter.
In the third quarter, Catcher posted NT$10.77 billion in consolidated sales, up 21.1 percent from the second quarter and up 86.1 percent from a year earlier. The third-quarter sales figure also set a company record.
Catcher said that because of an improving yield rate, its gross margin in the third quarter rose 5.2 percentage points to 52.3 percent, a level higher than the market had expected. Its operating margin rose 5.9 percentage points to 42.1 percent.
In the first nine months of this year, the company’s consolidated net profit totaled NT$7.98 billion, up 224.2 percent from a year earlier, while its earnings per share stood at NT$11.35, compared with NT$3.7 recorded a year ago.
During the nine-month period, consolidated revenue rose 82.9 percent from a year earlier to NT$26.77 billion, the company said.
Catcher shares were hammered by heavy selling this month, falling the maximum daily 7 percent three trading sessions in a row, after Chinese authorities shut down its Suzhou facilities because of pollution concerns.
The company said it is striving to improve the working environment at its Suzhou plant and hopes to complete renovations in time to resume operations next month.
Catcher, part of the Apple supply chain and described by Chinese environmentalists as a “poison apple,” had said the suspension of operations in Suzhou could cause a 20 percent fall in its sales this month.
If the shutdown continues into next month, its revenue is expected to fall 40 percent, the company said.
China has claimed a breakthrough in developing homegrown chipmaking equipment, an important step in overcoming US sanctions designed to thwart Beijing’s semiconductor goals. State-linked organizations are advised to use a new laser-based immersion lithography machine with a resolution of 65 nanometers or better, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said in an announcement this month. Although the note does not specify the supplier, the spec marks a significant step up from the previous most advanced indigenous equipment — developed by Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment Group Co (SMEE, 上海微電子) — which stood at about 90 nanometers. MIIT’s claimed advances last
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has appointed Rose Castanares, executive vice president of TSMC Arizona, as president of the subsidiary, which is responsible for carrying out massive investments by the Taiwanese tech giant in the US state, the company said in a statement yesterday. Castanares will succeed Brian Harrison as president of the Arizona subsidiary on Oct. 1 after the incumbent president steps down from the position with a transfer to the Arizona CEO office to serve as an advisor to TSMC Arizona’s chairman, the statement said. According to TSMC, Harrison is scheduled to retire on Dec. 31. Castanares joined TSMC in
EUROPE ON HOLD: Among a flurry of announcements, Intel said it would postpone new factories in Germany and Poland, but remains committed to its US expansion Intel Corp chief executive officer Pat Gelsinger has landed Amazon.com Inc’s Amazon Web Services (AWS) as a customer for the company’s manufacturing business, potentially bringing work to new plants under construction in the US and boosting his efforts to turn around the embattled chipmaker. Intel and AWS are to coinvest in a custom semiconductor for artificial intelligence computing — what is known as a fabric chip — in a “multiyear, multibillion-dollar framework,” Intel said in a statement on Monday. The work would rely on Intel’s 18A process, an advanced chipmaking technology. Intel shares rose more than 8 percent in late trading after the
FACTORY SHIFT: While Taiwan produces most of the world’s AI servers, firms are under pressure to move manufacturing amid geopolitical tensions Lenovo Group Ltd (聯想) started building artificial intelligence (AI) servers in India’s south, the latest boon for the rapidly growing country’s push to become a high-tech powerhouse. The company yesterday said it has started making the large, powerful computers in Pondicherry, southeastern India, moving beyond products such as laptops and smartphones. The Chinese company would also build out its facilities in the Bangalore region, including a research lab with a focus on AI. Lenovo’s plans mark another win for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who tries to attract more technology investment into the country. While India’s tense relationship with China has suffered setbacks