Auto parts maker Mobiletron Electronics Co (車王電子) yesterday said revenue increased 29 percent year-on-year for the first two months, driven by a wave of demand for replacement automotive electronics in the US amid ongoing severe weather battering the major export partner.
The company posted revenue of NT$410.67 million (US$13.58 million) in the first two months this year, up from NT$318.34 million a year ago, according to the company’s filing to the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
Last month alone, the company’s revenue grew 54.02 percent to NT$206.9 million from NT$134.34 million a year ago and was 1.54 percent higher than NT$203.77 million a month ago, the filing said.
“In an environment with wide temperature differences, automotive electronics are more likely to break down,” company spokesperson Aggie Tsai (蔡淑貞) said by telephone.
Tsai said sales of automotive electronics — mainly ignition modules, rectifiers and voltage regulators — in the US rose between 40 percent and 50 percent last month.
Sales of automotive electronics accounted for 72 percent of the company’s revenue of NT$2.34 billion last year, Tsai said.
The US market accounted for 50 percent of the firm’s total revenue, while sales to Europe made up 35 percent and sales to Asia 10 percent, according to the company.
However, Tsai said the visibility of its orders is low and it is still unclear whether sales for next month will remain high.
The company set a revenue growth target between 10 and 15 percent this year as orders for its power tools increase. Power tools accounted for 20 percent of its revenue last year.
Mobiletron Electronics shares declined 1.67 percent to NT$44.15 yesterday, underperforming the TAIEX, which was flat.
Because of storms in the US, Tong Yang Industry Co (東陽實業), which supplies automotive metal sheets and bumpers to global brands, expects its sales this quarter to hold at the previous quarter’s NT$5.34 billion despite fewer working days.
Sales to the US accounted for 50 percent of the company’s total sales, the company said.
Tong Yang public relations section director Fancy Hsu (許芳華) said the first and fourth quarters are the company’s peak seasons because car owners in the US and Europe refurnish their cars more often.
“Car owners will fix their cars before Christmas and they have to repair their cars more often during the winter snow season,” she said.
Tong Yang shares rose 1.6 percent to NT$44.35 yesterday.
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