Lemtech Holdings Co, Ltd (聯德控股) is to build a new plant in the Czech Republic, a company official told an investors’ conference in Taipei yesterday.
The New Taipei City-based metal stamping components and precision press tool supplier operates plants in Kunshan, China, Thailand and the US, producing the metal parts used in many industries including computer, telecommunication, consumer electronics and automotive components.
“Although the [Czech] factory might not benefit Lemtech’s sales significantly in the beginning, we see it as a milestone for our entry into Europe’s automobile and electronic parts business,” Lemtech spokesman Zac Lu (盧晉佑) said.
The company expects the Czech plant to break even in 2018, he said.
The firm is to start construction on the plant in the fourth quarter of this year, with mass production scheduled to begin in the second half of next year, Lu said.
The company is conservative on its performance for the rest of the year, he said, adding that metal slides, its major profit driver, might not expand its capacity in the current quarter, as the Kunshan plant is adjusting its product mix.
The Kunshan facility is expected to increase its capacity in the fourth quarter, Lu said, adding that future orders of metal slides might stimulate sales next year.
In the first half of this year, Lemtech posted a net loss of NT$6.4 million (US$201,151), or a net loss per share of NT$0.16, compared with a net income of NT$61 million for the same period last year.
The disappointing results came even though aggregate sales in the first half of the year increased 7 percent to NT$1.46 billion on a yearly basis, company data showed.
Gross margin was 23.55 percent in the first half of the year, slowing from 25.58 percent for the same period last year, the company said.
The net loss in the first six months of the year could be attributed to the capital gains tax of NT$134 million, Lu told investors.
The revenue from its electronic components sector made up more than 50 percent of total revenue, while sales in the automobile parts sector accounted for nearly 40 percent, company data showed.
Lemtech, which is incorporated in the Cayman Islands, is a components supplier for global brands and its customers include Asustek Computer Inc (華碩), HTC Corp (宏達電) and Japan’s Toshiba Corp.
Lemtech shares yesterday gained NT$0.1 to close at NT$75.7 in Taipei trading, outpacing the TAIEX’s 0.24 percent drop, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed.
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