Walsin Technology Corp (華新科技), the nation’s second-largest passive components supplier, yesterday reported a record-high net profit of NT$1.31 billion (US$44.02 million) for last quarter, thanks to strong demand and price hikes.
Last quarter’s figure more than tripled from NT$397 million in the first quarter last year and rose 44.64 percent from NT$905 million in the fourth quarter last year, company data showed.
Earnings per share climbed to NT$2.71 last quarter, compared with NT$0.77 a year earlier and NT$1.83 the previous quarter.
Gross profit also soared to an all-time high of NT$2.34 billion last quarter, from NT$1.06 billion a year ago and NT$1.73 billion in the previous quarter.
That brought last quarter’s gross margin to 35.8 percent, the highest in the company’s history, compared with 29 percent in the fourth quarter last year and 22.8 percent a year earlier.
Revenue last quarter climbed 42.8 percent year-on-year or 11.5 percent quarter-on-quarter to NT$6.64 billion, as the company raised prices amid a supply crunch.
Passive components used in industrial devices contributed about 30 percent to the company’s revenue last quarter, making it the biggest revenue source for Walsin.
Since the second half of last year, Walsin’s factories have been running at 100 percent capacity.
To expand its multilayer ceramic capacitor (MLCC) capacity and save on leasing costs, the company in July last year bought the manufacturing facilities of Walton Advanced Engineering Inc (華東科技) for NT$24.4 million.
Walsin attributed the shortage to a strategic shift by its Japanese competitors, who have turned their focus to high-end products used in cars and to high-capacity MLCCs, which reduced supply for mainstream applications such as PCs, handsets and consumer electronics.
The company said that MLCC demand would continue to fuel its growth this year and that it would continue investing in high-capacity, high-voltage and higher-end MLCCs to meet demand from autonomous cars, cryptocurrency mining and industrial automation.
In a separate filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange, Walsin said the company plans to issue up to 20 million common shares via a private placement.
The company is to use the proceeds to fund its long-term development plans and enhance its competitiveness through a strategic partnership, it said.
Shares of Walsin yesterday rallied 9.87 percent to close at NT$206 in Taipei trading, while its bigger rival, Yageo Corp (國巨), saw its shares surge 4.47 percent to NT$655.
The domestic unit of the Chinese-owned, Dutch-headquartered chipmaker Nexperia BV will soon be able to produce semiconductors locally within China, according to two company sources. Nexperia is at the center of a global tug-of-war over critical semiconductor technology, with a Dutch court in February ordering a probe into alleged mismanagement at the company. The geopolitical tussle has disrupted supply chains, with some carmakers reportedly forced to cut production due to chip shortages. Local production would allow Nexperia’s domestic arm, Nexperia Semiconductors (China) Ltd (安世半導體中國), to bypass restrictions in place since October on the supply of silicon wafers — etched with tiny components to
Taiwan is open to joining a global liquefied natural gas (LNG) program if one is created, but on the condition that countries provide delivery even in a scenario where there is a conflict with China, an energy department official said yesterday. While Taiwan’s priority is to have enough LNG at home, the nation is open to exploring potential strategic reserves in other countries such as Japan or South Korea, Energy Administration Deputy Director-General Chen Chung-hsien (陳崇憲) said. While the LNG market does not have a global reserve for emergencies like that of oil, the concept has been raised a few times —
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday received government approval to deploy its advanced 3-nanometer (3nm) process at its second fab currently under construction in Japan, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said in a news release. The ministry green-lit the plan for the facility in Kumamoto, which is scheduled to start installing equipment and come online in 2028 with a monthly production capacity of 15,000 12-inch wafers, the ministry said. The Department of Investment Review in June 2024 authorized a US$5.26 billion investment for the facility, slated to manufacture 6- to 12nm chips, significantly less advanced than 3nm process. At a meeting with
Standard Chartered Taiwan on March 26 announced that it has partnered with international fintech firm FinIQ to build an “Automated Structured Products Pricing Platform.” The bank is also introducing products from global issuers including Goldman Sachs Group Inc, Barclays PLC and BNP Paribas SA. The new platform enables an end-to-end process whereby it finds the most competitive pricing across multiple issuers in a matter of minutes, followed by automated documentation and transaction execution, which significantly shortens time-to-market and delivers a superior wealth management experience. Standard Chartered Bank Taiwan CEO Anthony Yu (游天立) said: “Standard Chartered is increasingly leveraging its wealth management
RSS