Electronic component supplier Lite-On Technology Corp (光寶科技) on Friday reported stronger than expected financial results for the first quarter of the year and said that it is optimistic about its business outlook.
The company did not provide numerical guidance, but said that it expects sales and margins to trend up quarter-on-quarter, largely supported by stable demand for LED and outdoor lighting, as well as cloud computing and smart home devices.
Net income grew 40.73 percent to NT$1.47 billion (US$47.6 million) from NT$1.04 billion a year earlier, with earnings per share rising to NT$0.63 from NT$0.45.
However, net income declined 41.89 percent from NT$2.52 billion in the previous quarter.
Lite-On said that its information technology unit — its biggest business with a sales contribution of 65 percent last quarter — reported an annual increase in sales of 5 percent on the back of stable demand for high-end servers, power management systems for cloud-based networking, power supplies for smart home devices and server enclosures, and human input solutions such as PC keyboards and peripherals.
Its optoelectronics unit, accounting for 16 percent of sales, reported an annual decline of 45 percent due to loss of revenue contribution from its compact camera module business, despite a more than 30 percent increase in sales of automotive LED lighting, the company said.
The company’s storage unit, which accounted for 14 percent of total revenue, posted a 26 percent annual decrease in revenue, it said.
Overall, Lite-On’s revenue decreased by 15.17 percent annually to NT$41.17 billion. On a quarterly basis, revenue dropped 18.42 percent.
The revenue declines came after the company trimmed its struggling compact camera module and mobile mechanics businesses in the third and fourth quarters of last year respectively.
However, due to operational efficiency, supply chain management and a better product-mix, gross margin in the first quarter improved by 2 percentage points year-on-year to reach 13.1 percent, while its operating margin rose 1.2 percentage points to 2.8 percent, Lite-On said.
“Sequential growth in sales and margins are expected in the second quarter, supported by stable demand from cloud computing, AI [artificial intelligence] smart home devices, as well as LED and outdoor lighting,” it said.
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