Lite-On Technology Corp (光寶科技) yesterday admitted to shareholders that last year was a tough year, but the electronic components maker pledged to improve profitability this year through effective supply chain management.
The Taipei-based company said all of its core business units showed steady growth in the first quarter of the year and it expected a substantial expansion in the non-PC sector this year, particularly in communications and cloud computing applications.
“Despite severe economic challenges in 2011, the company continued its remarkable growth in both revenue and profits,” Lite-On said in an e-mailed statement after the company held its annual general meeting earlier yesterday.
Lite-On reported a full-year net profit of NT$7.23 billion (US$242 million), or NT$3.22 per share, last year, which declined 19.6 percent from NT$8.99 billion, or NT$4.06 per share, in 2010.
Operating profit fell 12.5 percent year-on-year to NT$12.22 billion last year, while consolidated revenue increased 0.2 percent to NT$230.52 billion from the year before, according to the company’s data.
Shareholders yesterday approved the company’s plan to pay a dividend of NT$2.32 per share, which implies a payout ratio of 72 percent and a dividend yield of 6 percent. The NT$2.32 dividend per common share includes NT$2.27 in cash and NT$0.05 (or 0.5 percent) in stock.
Shares of Lite-On ended unchanged from Monday’s closing price and were being traded at NT$37.75 on the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
Lite-On is the second-largest power supply unit maker in Taiwan after Delta Electronics Inc (台達電). Besides power supply products, the company’s core business units include camera modules, LED modules, and PC keyboard and peripherals businesses.
The company told shareholders that its core business units recorded steady growth last year, making up more than 60 percent of the company’s total revenue, thanks to the continued global expansion of the high-end server, cloud computing, smartphone and tablet device markets. In addition, Lite-On said optoelectronics revenue posted yearly growth of 15 percent last year, boosted by the company’s market share gains in high-end camera modules for smartphones and notebook PCs.
On April 25, the company reported a first-quarter net profit of NT$1.35 billion, or earnings per share (EPS) of NT$0.6, down 10 percent quarter-on-quarter and 8 percent year-on-year.
Consolidated revenue was NT$27.41 billion in the first three months, and the company said at the time that it expected revenue to grow by double digits sequentially in the second quarter.
Yesterday, Lite-On maintained its optimistic outlook for the second quarter, citing substantial demand from major branded customers, revenue growth for LED lighting components and a full recovery from the impact of the Thai floods in its LED business.
Meanwhile, the company said its Finland-based subsidiary Lite-On Mobile Corp (formerly Perlos Oyj) would strive to improve its overall operations and profitability this year after the unit reported a net EPS loss of NT$0.08 in the first quarter. The company said it expected that growth momentum would resume in the second half at Lite-On Mobile, driven by improved customer portfolios, new projects and shipment expansion, as well as more service integration and concentration of manufacturing in Asia.
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