Hiwin Technologies Corp (上銀科技), a precision machine components manufacturer, said on Friday that it expects its revenue in the second half of this year to exceed the NT$7.27 billion it posted (US$243.34 million) a year ago on the back of rising shipments of industrial robots and strong demand for automation equipment from the electronics industry.
“As electronics companies try to reduce their personnel costs, they set up divisions for improving the level of automation in their factories, providing momentum for our sales of linear guideways and ball screws in the second half of this year,” Hiwin chairman Eric Chuo (卓永財) told reporters on the sidelines of the firm’s annual shareholders’ meeting.
Demand for automation is strong in Taiwan, China, Southeast Asia and Japan, he added.
Chuo said Hiwin can help companies design workstations in a production line, but the firm must work with system providers to design the entire line. He added that Hiwin does not plan to offer production line maintenance services because of the personnel needed to do so.
The company reiterated its goal of selling 100 industrial robots per month on average in the second half of the year, up from 5 units per month on average in the first half, Chuo said, adding that sales of industrial robots will account for 10 percent of its revenue this year, up from 8 percent last year.
Meanwhile, Chuo said Hiwin’s medical robot for foot rehabilitation has received approval from the government, and it expects to sell one unit by the end of the year.
The medical robot is also expected to receive a permit enabling it to be sold in China by the end of this year, Chuo said, adding that Hiwin is also in talks with a Japanese company to introduce the product in Japan.
Chuo said the new electric power steering system of a Japanese automaker, which uses Hiwin-made parts, will receive certification from the car company at the beginning of next year, and sales of the new system are expected to increase Hiwin’s revenue next year.
Hiwin is also cooperating with tier 1 auto part suppliers in Switzerland, Germany and Italy to develop a new brake system, and the system is likely to enter the market in 2016, which will likely increase Hiwin’s sales of ball screws, Chuo said.
Daiwa Capital Markets Ltd forecast that Hiwin is likely to post 19.25 percent revenue growth to NT$8.67 billion in the second half from a year ago, according to a report issued on June 20. The figure would be 34.91 percent higher than the NT$6.57 billion it posted in the first half of this year, the report said.
“We reiterate our ‘buy’ rating [on Hiwin stock] given that the recovery in demand seems to be continuing, plus we look for rising shipments of industrial robots in the second half of this year,” Daiwa’s Taipei-based analyst Christine Wang (王琦清) wrote in the report.
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