TPK Holdings Co (宸鴻), which counts Apple Inc as its biggest client, yesterday posted a nearly 40 percent monthly decline in revenue for last month because of dwindling demand during the slow season.
The touchpanel supplier’s revenue hit its lowest level in three years when it plunged to NT$7.03 billion (US$232 million) last month, compared with NT$11.59 billion in January, according to a company statement.
To meet the company’s revenue forecast of NT$25 billion for this quarter, TPK needs to make NT$6.38 billion this month.
“February is a slow month, since demand in almost all segments remains weak. Fewer working days during the Lunar New Year holiday is also a factor,” company spokesman Freddie Liu (劉詩亮) said by telephone.
Last month’s 40 percent monthly drop followed a 27 percent fall in January, with the NT$7.03 billion revenue figure close to 50 percent less than the NT$13.88 billion recorded in February last year.
“We hope that demand will pick up slightly this month,” Liu said. “However, since business visibility remains blurry, we are quite conservative about [making any upward adjustment to the company’s revenue outlook].”
Last month, Liu told investors that the company expected to continue facing headwinds before the end of the second quarter and forecast revenue to contract this quarter by a faster-than-expected 40 percent from last quarter’s NT$41.88 billion, compared with the market consensus forecast of a decline of between 20 and 25 percent.
TPK posted its first quarterly net loss last quarter, with losses of NT$1.61 billion, but aims to eke out a profit this quarter.
Shares in the touchpanel maker rose 0.28 percent to NT$177.5 yesterday, underperforming the broader market’s 0.92 percent rise, while those of rival Wintek Corp (勝華) slumped 6.64 percent to NT$9.28 after it on Monday said it would book NT$3.39 billion in asset impairment for last year because of low factory utilization rates.
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