HTC Corp (宏達電) yesterday said it remained in the red last quarter, although revenue was on the rise thanks to sales of its latest HTC U11 flagship handset.
The company reported net losses of NT$1.95 billion (US$64.2 million) for the April-to-June quarter, the ninth straight unprofitable quarter, translating to losses of NT$2.37 per share.
In the previous quarter, the company posted net losses of NT$2.03 billion, or NT$2.47 per share.
Revenue came in at NT$16.1 billion last quarter, 11 percent higher than NT$14.5 billion in the prior quarter, as the company launched its U11 smartphone in May, HTC said in a statement.
However, last quarter’s figure remained lower than NT$18.9 billion for the same period last year, company data showed.
Gross margin fell to 13.7 percent from 16.3 percent in the first quarter, but it was still an improvement from 11.4 percent a year earlier, the company said.
Thanks to continued streamlining of processes and realignment of resources across the company, HTC said it saw operating expenses fall to NT$4.4 billion from NT$4.7 billion three months ago and NT$6.4 billion a year earlier.
Operating losses narrowed to NT$2.2 billion last quarter from NT$2.4 billion the previous quarter and NT$4.2 billion a year earlier, company data showed.
HTC did not provide sales guidance or an earnings outlook in the statement, although it reiterated the strength of its U11 flagship handset and said the ecosystem for its Vive virtual reality headset has gained support from industry players such as Google, Intel Corp and Apple Inc.
Mercuries Life Insurance Co (三商美邦人壽) shares surged to a seven-month high this week after local media reported that E.Sun Financial Holding Co (玉山金控) had outbid CTBC Financial Holding Co (中信金控) in the financially strained insurer’s ongoing sale process. Shares of the mid-sized life insurer climbed 5.8 percent this week to NT$6.72, extending a nearly 18 percent rally over the past month, as investors bet on the likelihood of an impending takeover. The final round of bidding closed on Thursday, marking a critical step in the 32-year-old insurer’s search for a buyer after years of struggling to meet capital adequacy requirements. Local media reports
US sports leagues rushed to get in on the multi-billion US dollar bonanza of legalized betting, but the arrest of an National Basketball Association (NBA) coach and player in two sprawling US federal investigations show the potential cost of partnering with the gambling industry. Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups, a former Detroit Pistons star and an NBA Hall of Famer, was arrested for his alleged role in rigged illegal poker games that prosecutors say were tied to Mafia crime families. Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier was charged with manipulating his play for the benefit of bettors and former NBA player and
The DBS Foundation yesterday announced the launch of two flagship programs, “Silver Motion” and “Happier Caregiver, Healthier Seniors,” in partnership with CCILU Ltd, Hondao Senior Citizens’ Welfare Foundation and the Garden of Hope Foundation to help Taiwan face the challenges of a rapidly aging population. The foundation said it would invest S$4.91 million (US$3.8 million) over three years to foster inclusion and resilience in an aging society. “Aging may bring challenges, but it also brings opportunities. With many Asian markets rapidly becoming super-aged, the DBS Foundation is working with a regional ecosystem of like-minded partners across the private, public and people sectors
BREAKTHROUGH TECH: Powertech expects its fan-out PLP system to become mainstream, saying it can offer three-times greater production throughput Chip packaging service provider Powertech Technology Inc (力成科技) plans to more than double its capital expenditures next year to more than NT$40 billion (US$1.31 billion) as demand for its new panel-level packaging (PLP) technology, primarily used in chips for artificial intelligence (AI) applications, has greatly exceeded what it can supply. A significant portion of the budget, about US$1 billion, would be earmarked for fan-out PLP technology, Powertech told investors yesterday. Its heavy investment in fan-out PLP technology over the past 10 years is expected to bear fruit in 2027 after the technology enters volume production, it said, adding that the tech would