Catcher Technology Co (可成科技), a metal casing supplier for Apple Inc, yesterday reported that its second-quarter net profit reached NT$4.09 billion (US$135.28 million), the second-highest in its history for that quarter, on the back of robust demand for notebook and tablet computers.
Net income for the quarter ending June grew 6 percent from NT$3.86 billion the same period last year and 95.8 percent from the previous quarter’s NT$2.07 billion, company data showed.
“Our clients’ new product launches last quarter supported growth,” Catcher’s investor relations official said by telephone.
Earnings per share were NT$5.31 last quarter, compared with the NT$5.01 a year ago and NT$2.71 a quarter earlier.
Cather’s gross margin expanded by 12.01 percentage points year-on-year to 48.12 percent, while its operating margin climbed by 10.1 percentage points to 38.1 percent, both representing the second-highest in its history.
The company attributed the margin increases to an expanding revenue scale.
The metal casing company booked NT$850 million in non-operating losses last quarter, compared with non-operating losses of NT$2.18 billion in the previous quarter.
Catcher attributed the losses to the New Taiwan dollar’s appreciation against the US dollar, but noted that the impact from the currency exchange was smaller than in the first quarter.
In a separate release, Catcher posted its best July revenue at NT$7.44 billion, bringing cumulative sales in the first seven months of the year to NT$40.52 billion, edging up 0.4 percent from a year ago.
Catcher said it was optimistic that its operating performance would continue to climb on a quarterly basis and hit its peak in the final quarter of the year
Deutsche Bank on Tuesday last week raised its price target for Catcher from NT$460 to NT$500, making it the highest estimate in the market.
Deutsche Bank analyst Birdy Lu (呂家霖) attributed his optimism to Catcher’s rising order allocation for iPhones, the increasing use of unibody metal casings for notebooks and the company’s growing orders from non-Apple clients, such as Google’s Pixel handsets.
Lu said he expects Catcher’s revenue this year to hit NT$92.81 billion, up 17.31 percent from last year’s NT$79.11 billion.
Catcher shares rose 3.84 percent to NT$392 in Taipei trading yesterday, outperforming the TAIEX, which climbed 0.69 percent.
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