Taiwan’s No. 1 LED chipmaker, Epistar Corp (晶元光電), on Monday reported net income of NT$1.81 billion (US$57.31 million) for last year, or NT$1.98 per share, its highest profit in the past three years.
The firm attributed last year’s growth to rising orders in the first half of the year and an improved product mix, with more higher-margin products compared with the previous year.
Epistar’s gross margin increased 5.7 percentage points to 19 percent last year from 13.3 percent in the previous year, while its operating margin also advanced 6.64 percentage points to 8.62 percent from 1.98 percent, the company said in a statement.
Revenue was up 24.6 percent to NT$27.71 billion last year.
This year, Epistar’s revenue could jump 22.7 percent annually to NT$34.01 billion, Yuanta Securities and Investment Consulting Co (元大投顧) predicted.
“Epistar’s annual revenues will grow on the back of the mergers and acquisitions of its smaller competitors in Taiwan, but earnings will be flat this year,” Yuanta analyst Andrew Chen (陳治宇) said in a note on Monday.
Epistar is integrating Formosa Epitaxy Inc (璨圓光電) to increase its production capacity.
The acquisition was completed on Dec. 30 last year.
UBS Securities Pte Ltd forecast Epistar would see revenue grow to NT$6.44 billion this quarter, including a NT$400 million to NT$500 million contribution from Formosa Epitaxy, but revenue could increase to NT$8.2 billion next quarter, as contribution from Formosa Epitaxy is be from NT$900 million to NT$1 billion, UBS analyst Samson Hung (洪希民) said in a separate note on Monday.
Epistar shares rose 3.89 percent to NT$58.8 in Taipei trading yesterday, outperforming the TAIEX, which gained 0.28 percent.
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