Lite-On Technology Corp (光寶科技) expects its business to continue expanding this quarter, fueled by seasonal demand for LED streetlamps and game consoles.
“We are optimistic that both revenue and earnings for game consoles this quarter can expand from the previous quarter,” chief executive officer Warren Chen (陳廣中) told an investors’ conference in Taipei.
“Revenue from the LED lighting segment will also be higher than a year ago, as the company is to start shipping LED streetlamps for projects in Taiwan and the Middle East in the second half of this year,” he said.
Steady growth expected in cloud-computing and storage applications will also lend support to the company’s operations this quarter, Lite-On said.
In addition, the company is upbeat about the outlook of its biomedical business, following yesterday’s launch of the company’s point of care (POC) hemoglobin A1C analyzer.
The product, which can analyze HbA1c values by using a finger-prick blood sample from a diabetic patient, is designed for small and medium-sized hospitals, clinics and pharmacies, Lite-On’s new-businesses division chief executive officer Danny Liao (廖學福) said.
The analyzer has recently gained certification from the China Food and Drug Administration, Liao said.
The company forecast that it would ship 800 of the analyzers next year, he added.
The company gave a positive outlook for the second half of this year, after reporting strong growth in net profit for last quarter on growth in storage applications and LED lighting business.
Net income jumped 35.66 percent to NT$1.94 billion (US$61.93 million) last quarter from last year’s NT$1.43 billion. The result also represented a 14 percent growth from the previous quarter’s NT$1.7 billion.
Operating margin improved to 4.4 percent last quarter, up 0.5 percentage points from last year’s 3.09 percent and 0.31 percentage points from the previous quarter’s 4.09 percent, the company said.
Gross margin declined 0.52 percentage points quarterly to 12.7 percent, but increased 0.19 percentage points annually, data showed.
Combined net profit for the first half reached NT$3.65 billion, or NT$1.58 per share, an increase of 18.89 percent from last year’s NT$3.07 billion, or NT$1.33 per share, data showed.
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