Largan Precision Co (大立光), the nation’s leading maker of optical lens modules, yesterday joined local peers Kinko Optical Co (今國光) and Calin Technology Co (佳凌) in reporting record revenues for last month and the last quarter amid rising demand.
Consolidated revenue reached NT$1.798 billion (US$61.2 million) last month, rising 17.29 percent from NT$1.53 billion in August and up 16.98 percent from NT$1.54 billion the year before, the Nantun (南屯), Greater Taichung-based company said in a filing to the Taiwan Stock Exchange after the local stock market closed.
Last month’s sales were up for the third consecutive month since July. As a result, revenue in the third quarter of the year totaled NT$4.51 billion, up 35.16 percent quarter-on-quarter and 2.78 percent higher than a year earlier, the company’s data showed.
The numbers were in line with analysts’ projections. Nomura Securities said in a note ahead of the release of Largan’s sales results that it forecast the company’s third-quarter revenue would increase 36 percent to NT$4.5 billion from the previous quarter.
Largan did not elaborate on its strong performance last quarter nor provide a sales guidance for this quarter, which Nomura said was likely to further increase 29 percent sequentially to NT$5.9 billion owing to strong sales of Apple Inc’s iPhone 5, whose 8 megapixel camera modules are sourced mainly from Largan.
Largan’s sales in the first nine months of the year fell 4.03 percent to NT$11.49 billion from a year ago, but strong orders from Apple are likely to pull the company’s full-year sales above NT$17.4 billion, up 8 percent from last year, Nomura said in its note to clients on Thursday.
Earnings per share (EPS) were estimated to reach NT$8.8 for the third quarter and NT$12.8 for this quarter, compared with NT$4.96 last quarter and NT$6.58 in the first quarter, the brokerage said.
Shares in Largan, the highest priced stock on the local bourse, rose 2.46 percent to NT$625 yesterday, rising 10.42 percent so far this year on the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
Separately, Kinko, a supplier of glass-lens kits used in products including Canon Inc’s and Nikon Corp’s digital single-lens reflex (DSLR) cameras, saw its share price rise 1.05 percent yesterday after revenue for last month hit a fresh record high for a third consecutive month.
Consolidated revenue was NT$748.83 million last month, up 9.6 percent from NT$683.22 million the previous month and a jump of 30.36 percent from the same month last year, the Wuci (梧棲), Greater Taichung-based company said in its stock exchange filing on Thursday.
In the third quarter, revenue rose 18.37 percent to a record level of NT$2.088 billion from NT$1.76 billion in the previous quarter and increased 22.46 percent from NT$1.71 billion a year earlier.
With increasing production of glass-lens kits for high-end digital cameras, Kinko is likely to see sales hit another record in the fourth quarter and its strong growth momentum will carry into next year, First Capital Management Inc (第一金證券投顧) said in a separate note.
For the first nine months of this year, Kinko’s cumulative sales totaled NT5.24 billion, up 22.34 percent from the year before, the company’s filing showed.
Meanwhile, smaller rival Calin, which also manufactures and assembles lenses for Canon DSLR cameras, said its sales rose 2.92 percent month-on-month and 27.38 percent year-on-year to NT$177.31 million last month, pushing its third-quarter revenue to a record NT$498.59 million, according to a company filing on Thursday.
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