Electronic component maker Lite-On Technology Corp (光寶科技) expects revenue to pick up next quarter because demand for Ultrabook computers and servers supporting cloud computing technology is expected to boost demand for its camera modules and power supply units, a company executive said yesterday.
The growth momentum would be even stronger in the second half of this year, helped by an increase in shipments of tablet devices, new smartphones and notebook computers running Microsoft’s upcoming Windows 8 operating system, Lite-On chief executive officer Warren Chen (陳廣中) told a media briefing.
“We have high anticipation for the second half,” Chen said. “We believe Windows 8 will be a major driver.”
Lite-On supplies camera modules and key components to many smartphone makers, including HTC Corp (宏達電) and Nokia.
Chen said a recent -improvement in the US economy and new progress in solving the eurozone’s debt problems gave him greater confidence on growing the company’s revenues this year than three months ago. In December last year, Lite-On said it aimed to expand annual revenues by a single-digit percent this year.
This quarter would be the trough of this year. Revenue is expected to drop by mid-single digits this quarter, from NT$29.07 billion (US$983.32 million) in the fourth quarter because demand usually dips in the first three months of a year, Chen said.
Chen’s forecast beat the expectations of Credit Suisse, which projected a quarterly decline of between 10 and 15 percent this quarter based on a report issued yesterday.
Lite-On yesterday said net income plummeted 31.6 percent to NT$1.5 billion in the final quarter of last year, compared with NT$2.19 billion the previous year, according to the company’s financial statement. That was down 42 percent from NT$2.58 billion in net profits in the third quarter.
The company said a hard disk drive supply crunch after severe floods in Thailand has slowed customers’ PC shipments and thereby curtailed demand for its components. The floods also suspended shipments from its LED factory in Thailand, which caused a decline of 30 percent year-on-year in its LED revenue last quarter.
The floods also cut the company’s gross margin to 12.8 percent in the quarter ending Dec. 31, from 13.1 percent in the third quarter, as manufacturing costs rose, Lite-On said. Gross margin was 12.4 percent in the fourth quarter of 2010.
On Monday, Lite-On posted full year net income of NT$7.23 billion, or NT$3.22 per share, down 19.6 percent from NT$8.99 billion, or NT$4.06 per share, in 2010. Revenues decreased 3.7 percent to NT$118.88 billion last year from NT$123.46 billion in 2010.
Lite-On plans to keep its payout ratio stable at about 72 percent as in prevous years, Chen said.
That would bring its cash dividend to about NT$2.32 per share this year, implying a 6.31 percent dividend yield based on the company’s stock price of NT$36.75 yesterday.
The US dollar was trading at NT$29.7 at 10am today on the Taipei Foreign Exchange, as the New Taiwan dollar gained NT$1.364 from the previous close last week. The NT dollar continued to rise today, after surging 3.07 percent on Friday. After opening at NT$30.91, the NT dollar gained more than NT$1 in just 15 minutes, briefly passing the NT$30 mark. Before the US Department of the Treasury's semi-annual currency report came out, expectations that the NT dollar would keep rising were already building. The NT dollar on Friday closed at NT$31.064, up by NT$0.953 — a 3.07 percent single-day gain. Today,
‘SHORT TERM’: The local currency would likely remain strong in the near term, driven by anticipated US trade pressure, capital inflows and expectations of a US Fed rate cut The US dollar is expected to fall below NT$30 in the near term, as traders anticipate increased pressure from Washington for Taiwan to allow the New Taiwan dollar to appreciate, Cathay United Bank (國泰世華銀行) chief economist Lin Chi-chao (林啟超) said. Following a sharp drop in the greenback against the NT dollar on Friday, Lin told the Central News Agency that the local currency is likely to remain strong in the short term, driven in part by market psychology surrounding anticipated US policy pressure. On Friday, the US dollar fell NT$0.953, or 3.07 percent, closing at NT$31.064 — its lowest level since Jan.
The New Taiwan dollar and Taiwanese stocks surged on signs that trade tensions between the world’s top two economies might start easing and as US tech earnings boosted the outlook of the nation’s semiconductor exports. The NT dollar strengthened as much as 3.8 percent versus the US dollar to 30.815, the biggest intraday gain since January 2011, closing at NT$31.064. The benchmark TAIEX jumped 2.73 percent to outperform the region’s equity gauges. Outlook for global trade improved after China said it is assessing possible trade talks with the US, providing a boost for the nation’s currency and shares. As the NT dollar
PRESSURE EXPECTED: The appreciation of the NT dollar reflected expectations that Washington would press Taiwan to boost its currency against the US dollar, dealers said Taiwan’s export-oriented semiconductor and auto part manufacturers are expecting their margins to be affected by large foreign exchange losses as the New Taiwan dollar continued to appreciate sharply against the US dollar yesterday. Among major semiconductor manufacturers, ASE Technology Holding Co (日月光), the world’s largest integrated circuit (IC) packaging and testing services provider, said that whenever the NT dollar rises NT$1 against the greenback, its gross margin is cut by about 1.5 percent. The NT dollar traded as strong as NT$29.59 per US dollar before trimming gains to close NT$0.919, or 2.96 percent, higher at NT$30.145 yesterday in Taipei trading
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