Metal casing manufacturer Catcher Technology Co (可成科技) expects to see sales grow this month because of more working days, despite flat sales last month from January.
Catcher supplies metal casings for Apple Inc’s MacBook Air, HTC Corp’s (宏達電) smartphones and Research In Motion Ltd’s (RIM) PlayBook tablets, among others.
A shutdown in the company’s factories in China’s Suzhou that has been in place since October last year because of environmental disputes, coupled with traditional slow sales of consumer electronics products in the winter season, meant Catcher’s consolidated sales last month rose just 0.1 percent from a month earlier to NT$2.82 billion (US$86.3 million).
On an annual basis, Catcher’s sales last month were up 43.6 percent from the same month last year, the company said in a statement yesterday.
Cumulative sales in the first two months of the year reached NT$5.64 billion, 28.8 percent higher than a year earlier. This also means Catcher would have to make NT$3.51 billion in sales this month if it is to see its first-quarter revenue increase above the previous quarter’s NT$9.15 billion.
Meanwhile, Largan Precision Co (大立光), which also counts phone makers such as HTC, Apple, RIM and Nokia Oyj as major customers, yesterday said its sales for last month increased to NT$1.23 billion, up 12 percent from January.
The figure was also 24 percent higher than the same period last year, according to a company statement.
Total revenue for the first two months of the year grew 6 percent from the same period last year to NT$2.33 billion, the statement said.
The Greater Taichung-based maker of handset lenses last month said at an investor conference that its consolidated sales for the current quarter would be flat from the same period last year, when it was NT$3.51 billion, and lower than the NT$3.99 billion in the fourth quarter last year, because of seasonal factors.
This means that Lagan would have to see NT$1.18 billion in sales this month if it is to achieve its sales guidance for the current quarter.
Catcher closed down 4.68 percent at NT$224 on the Taiwan Stock Exchange before monthly sales figures were released, while Largan fell 1.67 percent to NT$646.
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