Everlight Electronics Co (億光) yesterday said that earnings for last year were generally flat from the previous year, as the company increased shipments of non-blue/white lighting products and backlight units in the second half to compensate for the weakness in the first half.
“Rising orders for non-blue/white LED lighting products, such as sensors used in IoT [Internet of Things] automotive lighting and fine pixel pitch LED displays, supported the firm’s profits,” an Everlight investor relations officer said by telephone.
Revenue from non-blue/white LED lighting products and non-backlight units contributed 55 percent to the company’s overall revenue last year, exceeding 50 percent for the first time in the company’s history, said the official, who declined to be named.
Net income totaled NT$1.83 billion (US$60.03 million) last year, while revenue slid 1.82 percent annually to NT$29.34 billion, Everlight said.
Gross margin grew 0.89 percentage points to 24.46 percent and operating margin climbed 0.45 percentage points to 7.27 percent, the company said.
The company’s board approved a proposal to distribute NT$1.32 billion in cash dividends, or NT$3 per common share, based on last year’s earnings per share of NT$4.13, the company said in a filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
That represents a payout ratio of 72.63 percent, higher than last year’s 70.2 percent, and translates into a yield of 6.06 percent based on Everlight’s closing price of NT$49.45 in Taipei trading yesterday.
Everlight chairman Robert Yeh (葉寅夫) in January told a media gathering that the company’s revenue for this year would likely grow by double-digit percentage points from last year, on the back of growing orders for non-blue-white LED applications.
HSBC Securities Taiwan Corp said in a client note earlier this month that Everlight’s net income could increase by 10 to 15 percent this year, thanks to continued margin expansion amid an improved product mix and a better pricing environment.
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