TPK Holdings Co (宸鴻), a major touchpanel supplier to Apple Inc, yesterday posted 32.5 percent growth in revenue for last month, boding well for the company hitting the high end of its revenue target this quarter.
Revenue soared to NT$14.79 billion (US$498.1 million) last month, compared with NT$11.17 billion in October. Compared with the same period of last year, revenue plunged 36.73 percent from NT$23.38 billion.
“Thanksgiving retail sales in the US are brisk, better than we had thought,” TPK chief financial executive Freddie Liu (劉詩亮) said on the telephone.
DEMAND
Liu attributed the big jump in revenue last month to strong tablet demand and said the company has a good chance of reaching the high end of its revenue forecast.
TPK has expected revenue this quarter to grow by between 15 percent and 25 percent, from NT$29.47 billion last quarter.
However, the company is still likely to swing into loss this quarter, because of a one-time asset impairment loss of NT$2 billion stemming from Cando Corp (達鴻), its touchpanel subsidiary. That would be the first quarterly loss in the company’s history.
SHRINK
Operating margin would shrink to between 2 percent and 3 percent this quarter, from 4 percent last quarter, as TPK plans to ship more low-cost touch panels used in smartphones and tablets, the company said last month.
Shares of TPK edged lower 0.56 percent to NT$178 yesterday, while the TAIEX rose 0.3 percent.
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