Auto parts maker Ta Yih Industrial Co Ltd (大億) yesterday gave a positive outlook for this year, on the back of increasing orders from the US and Japan.
The company’s foreign brand customers include Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV, Ford Motor Co and Suzuki Motor Corp.
The company, the largest automotive lighting maker in the nation’s original-equipment manufacturing (OEM) market, started to expand its overseas footprint five years ago.
“The company needs to seek other drivers of sales, as the local [OEM] market is saturated,” Ta Yih spokesman Wang Hung-chi (王宏基) told an investors’ conference in Taipei.
In addition to its automotive lighting business, the company also plans to launch several types of aircraft lighting and railway lighting products, in a bid to diversify its product portfolio.
However, Ta Yih is relatively conservative about its sales outlook for Taiwan, saying that sales of new vehicles in Taiwan this year are expected to be flat from last year’s 439,629 units.
Based in Tainan, the company commands more than 80 percent of the local market, with major customers including the nation’s two leading automakers, Hotai Motor Co (和泰汽車) and Yulon Motor Co (裕隆汽車).
Ta Yih’s net profit increased 10.7 percent to NT$497 million (US$16.2 million) last year, with sales rising 2.9 percent to NT$5.9 billion, supported by optimistic sentiment in the global automotive market.
Sales to Taiwanese customers contributed more than 50 percent of the company’s total revenue last year, while sales to Japan and the US accounted for 25 percent and 15 percent respectively, company data showed.
Earnings per share were NT$6.52, compared with the NT$5.9 posted in 2015, company data showed.
The company’s board has approved paying a cash dividend of NT$5.2 per share based on last year’s earnings, a payout ratio of nearly 80 percent.
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