Despite a disposal gain of NT$1 billion (US$31.56 million) from the sale of land in Taoyuan, HTC Corp (宏達電) yesterday reported a net loss of NT$3.1 billion for last quarter, its fifth consecutive unprofitable quarter.
The size of the net loss expanded from the previous quarter’s NT$2.6 billion, but shrank from last year’s net loss of NT$8 billion, the smartphone company’s data showed.
That translated into a loss per share of NT$3.71 for last quarter, compared with the previous quarter’s NT$3.16 per share and the loss per share of NT$9.71 for the same period last year.
Gross margin was 11.4 percent last quarter, up 2 percentage points from the previous quarter’s 9.4 percent, but down 7.9 percentage points from last year’s 19.3 percent.
Operating margin also improved 9.9 percentage points from the previous quarter’s minus-32.4 percent to minus-22.5 percent last quarter, the data showed.
HTC president of smartphone and connected devices business Chang Chia-lin (張嘉臨) said that the quarterly improvement in gross margin was due to the launch of the HTC M10 flagship smartphone and the virtual reality (VR) headset Vive.
The company expects the momentum of its flagship smartphone and Vive to extend to this quarter, Chang said.
“We expect the revenues and bottom line this quarter to improve from last quarter,” he told a teleconference, without offering a range.
HTC expects the shipment volume of the HTC M10 this quarter to be similarto or higher than last quarter, Chang said, adding that HTC still hopes its smartphone business will break even this quarter.
“Despite the intensified competition, we will maintain that hope since there are two months left in this quarter,” Chang said.
He declined to disclose the sales and gross margin contribution or the shipment volume of the Vive last quarter, saying the disclosure of such information would not be conducive, given the competition in the sector.
Chang would only say that the Vive has been receiving warm feedback from the market, and the company would focus on both individual and large-scale customers.
To ensure the wide availability of HTC Vive, the company has launched an aggressive program of regional and channel expansion across the US, China, the UK, Germany and Australia, Chang said.
Chang said HTC plans to expand the reach of its VR product into emerging markets such as India and Russia, but it will take time and the firm is still drafting plans for these markets.
HTC shares yesterday surged by 2.3 percent to close at NT$97.5 in Taipei trading, outperforming the TAIEX, which lost 0.13 percent.
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