Bolstered by robust demand, leading machine tool makers Tongtai Machine and Tool Co (東台精機) and Goodway Machine Corp (程泰機械) reported double-digit annual revenue growth in the first half of the year.
Kaohsiung-based Tongtai saw sales last month grow 14.97 percent to NT$1.04 billion (US$34.12 million) from a year earlier, bringing cumulative revenue in the first half to NT$5.44 billion, up 27.5 percent from the same period last year.
With the US-China trade spat intensifying, Tongtai said in a statement on Tuesday that it would increase efforts to reduce risks by diversifying its sales portfolio.
Tongtai is to showcase its five-axis machines and multitasking machines at next week’s Farnborough International Airshow, the world’s second-largest trade show for the aerospace and defense industries, in a bid to expand its presence in the European market.
Taiwan and China accounted for 62.6 percent of total revenue in the first half of the year, while Europe and the US contributed 20.84 percent, Tongtai said.
Tongtai shares edged down 0.93 percent to close at NT$21.30 on the main board, underperforming the broader market.
Goodway reported that aggregate sales in the first six months of the year rose 23.6 percent to NT$4.21 billion from a year earlier.
Last month alone, sales grew 5.61 percent to NT$745.76 million on an annual basis, it said in a filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
Goodway chairman Edward Yang (楊德華) gave a positive business outlook at the company’s annual shareholders’ meeting last month, saying that a weak New Taiwan dollar should lend support to revenue growth.
Citing better order visibility, Yang said he expects revenue in the second half to surpass sales in the first half, backed by about NT$400 million in new US orders.
Goodway shares were unchanged at NT$63.70 yesterday.
Exports by Taiwanese machine tool makers in the first half of the year totaled US$1.8 billion, up 17.9 percent from the same period last year, data compiled by the Taiwan Machine Tool and Accessory Builders’ Association (台灣工具機暨零組件公會) showed.
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