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.
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