Everlight Electronics Co (億光電子) expects sales to remain strong throughout this year, driven by its LED backlight business, chairman Robert Yeh (葉寅夫) said yesterday.
“We are working at full capacity because of the growing demand for flat-panel TVs, which boosted demand for LED backlight items,” Yeh told shareholders at an annual shareholders’ meeting in Taipei.
“As a result, [sales in] the third quarter will be better than in the second quarter,” he said.
Cumulative sales during the first five months of the year expanded 26.14 percent to NT$11.38 billion from NT$9.02 billion a year earlier, which Everlight, the nation’s top LED chip packager, attributed to increased demand for both LED backlight and lighting products.
Yeh said sales may continue peaking this month after hitting a record NT$2.6 billion (US$86.69 million) last month, up 1.96 percent from NT$2.55 billion in April.
Shareholders yesterday approved a proposal to distribute a NT$3 cash dividend after the company posted a net income of NT$1.47 billion, or NT$3.51 per share, last year.
That represents a dividend yield of 4.1 percent based on Everlight’s closing price of NT$73 yesterday.
Revenue for last year was NT$24.72 billion after including contributions from German LED lighting company WOFI Leuchten Wortmann & Filz GmbH, which it acquired early last year.
Yeh said LED backlight items accounted for about 20 percent of total sales last year, while infrared LEDs, LED lighting products and LEDs for billboards accounted for 24 percent, 12.5 percent and 10 percent respectively.
As demand for larger-sized LCD TVs continues growing, backlights will continue driving the company’s sales in the second half of the year, he said.
Yeh added that the company is seeking to diversify its products as the average selling prices of LED lighting products fall.
Everlight aims to increase sales contribution from its automotive LED lighting business to at least 10 percent this year from 5 percent, he said.
Everlight now only produces LED chips used in headlights, but plans to ship more chips that can be used in other auto parts such as dashboard lights and auxiliary lights to expand its share of the automotive segment, he added.
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