Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), which manufactures iPhones and iPads for Apple Inc, yesterday posted 83 percent quarterly growth in net income for the fourth quarter as its gross margin improved 1.84 percentage points to 8.89 percent.
A year ago, the firm’s fourth-quarter gross margin was 7.05 percent.
Net income on a consolidated basis expanded to NT$35.03 billion (US$1.18 billion) last quarter, compared with NT$19.18 billion in the third quarter of last year, according to an e-mailed statement.
Non-operating income, mostly from its subsidiaries, such as Hong Kong-listed handset maker Foxconn International Holdings Ltd (富士康控股), grew 53 percent to NT$9.12 billion last quarter, up from NT$5.95 billion in the third quarter.
Last year, Hon Hai posted accumulated net income of NT$81.59 billion, up 5.76 percent from NT$77.15 billion in 2010. Revenues grew 15 percent to NT$3.45 trillion last year, up from NT$3 trillion in 2010.
SUBSCRIPTION PLAN
Separately, Hon Hai said the company’s board yesterday approved a share subscription plan by subsidiary Chimei Innolux Corp (奇美電子) which would raise a total of NT$1.94 billion during the three years unitl 2014.
Hon Hai and its investment arm, Hyield Venture Capital Co (鴻揚創投), will purchase the new Chimei shares, according to a filing to the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
HELPING CHIMEI
The board’s approval will help Chimei obtain a much-needed rollover for NT$200 billion in syndicated loans as creditor banks had requested.
Hon Hai and Hyield Venture hold a combined 3.87 percent stake in Chimei Innolux, the nation’s largest LCD panel maker.
In a separate filing, the company said the board also approved fund-raising proposals to offer as many as 1 billion common shares in the form of global depositary receipts and to issue up to NT$18 billion in corporate bonds.
The company plans to use the proceedings to replenish its operating capital and repay short-term debts.
The Chimei Innolux investments and fund-raising projects will be put to discussion during the company’s annual general shareholders’ meeting scheduled for June 18.
Hon Hai’s share price ended the day 1.89 percent higher at NT$108.00, while Chimei Innolux’s stock price was unchanged at NT$13.6.
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