Wistron Corp (緯創), which assembles iPhones for Apple Inc, yesterday reported net income of NT$1.45 billion (US$47.5 million) for last quarter, its best quarterly performance in the past 13 quarters, on robust demand for “smart” devices.
The result was more than double the previous quarter’s net income of NT$512 million, while in the same period last year the company posted a loss of NT$122 million, company data show.
“Last quarter was mainly driven by the smart devices segment. The performance exceeded our expectations,” Wistron chairman Simon Lin (林憲銘) told a teleconference.
Lin did not specify the type of smart device, but it is widely believed he was referring to the launch of Apple’s iPhone 7 in September last year.
The quarterly result brought Wistron’s combined net profit to NT$2.96 billion last year, representing a 122.55 percent year-on-year surge from 2015’s NT$1.33 billion, Wistron data showed.
That translates into earnings per share of NT$1.2 last year, compared with the NT$0.55 per share in the previous year.
Wistron’s board approved a cash dividend of NT$1.2 per share and a stock dividend of 0.3 percent per common share, representing a cash payout ratio of 100 percent based on last year’s earnings.
The planned dividend distribution translates into yields of 4.51 percent based on Wistron’s closing price of NT$26.6 in Taipei trading yesterday.
The board also approved NT$615 million of employee bonuses in the form of stock, the company said.
Looking forward, Lin said the company is upbeat about its overall performance this year, which is expected to outpace last year’s revenues of NT$659.41 billion, driven by the continued increase in orders for smart devices and servers.
The revenue contribution from smart devices is expected to reach 20 percent for the first time this year, Lin said, without disclosing last year’s ratio.
Lin said the board approved a capital expenditure of US$400 million this year, with US$300 million, or 75 percent of the total capital expenditure, to be spent on new equipment and facility expansion in Wistron’s China plants.
Shipments of servers, which accounted for 7 percent of the company’s total revenues, are set to grow by 10 percent this year from last year’s 2 million units, Lin said.
Wistron’s notebook computer shipments, which last year contributed 45 percent of the company’s revenue, are expected to stay flat this year from last year’s 19.4 million units, Lin said.
While the notebook industry is expected to continue shrinking this year, Wistron is “pleased” that it has sustained similar shipment levels as last year, Lin said.
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