Yageo Corp (國巨) on Wednesday said that last quarter’s earnings were the lowest in six quarters, due to lower demand and falling prices.
Net profit totaled NT$2.59 billion (US$83.81 million), down 39.2 percent annually and a drop of 39.5 percent from the fourth quarter of last year, with earnings per share of NT$6.11, the nation’s biggest supplier of passive components said in a statement.
Sales rose 3.4 percent annually to NT$11.39 billion, but fell 29.7 percent quarter-on-quarter, it said.
Gross margin reached 44.8 percent, down 6.6 percentage points annually and 14.3 percentage points quarterly, while operating margin declined 16.1 percentage points annually and 1.8 percentage points quarterly to 26.3 percent, it said.
Last quarter’s results were lower than the previous quarter’s levels due to overall weak demand in the greater China region, pricing competition from peers and greater China clients’ order allocation adjustments, Yageo said.
While declines in average selling prices of the company’s products are likely to narrow this quarter, the company said that it is still relatively conservative about revenue momentum, given that demand from consumer electronics in the greater China region has not shown a strong recovery.
Ongoing inventory destocking at some clients is also expected to bring uncertainty to the business outlook this quarter, it added.
In a separate statement, Yageo subsidiary Chilisin Electronics Corp (奇力新) said that net profit last quarter reached a record high of NT$324.26 million, rising 24.3 percent annually.
Earnings per share also rose to NT$1.33, compared with the NT$1.1 a year earlier, the nation’s largest power inductor manufacturer said.
Revenue reached NT$3.7 billion, up 20 percent annually, while gross margin and operating margin were 29.14 percent and 12.58 percent respectively, Chilisin said.
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