Consumer electronics maker Sampo Corp (聲寶) yesterday said that it expects sales to improve in the second half of this year on the back of new product launches and a government stimulus package to boost demand.
Domestic demand for home appliances has weakened following the government’s pension reforms, as consumers have become more conservative on spending, the company said.
In the first five months of this year, the company’s cumulative revenue fell 5.76 percent to NT$3.09 billion (US$98.56 million), from NT$3.28 billion a year earlier, it said.
Sampo plans to introduce new home appliances, such as fans and air-conditioners, as summer approaches, Sampo spokesman Chiang Chuan-tien (江全田) told the Taipei Times by telephone.
The company welcomes an amendment to the Commodity Tax Act (貨物稅條例), passed on Thursday last week, which offers subsidies of up to NT$2,000 per item on purchases of energy-efficient refrigerators, air-conditioners and dehumidifiers, Chiang said.
Under president Hsu Ching-chao (許經朝), who was appointed in March, the company aims to focus on more efficient and flexible management, Chiang said, adding that the new management is also working on online promotions to attract younger consumers.
Sampo is to relocate the production lines of air-conditioners, refrigerators and washing machines from its plant in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口) to a new plant in Tainan in a bid to improve production efficiency.
The relocation is expected to be complete in December and the new plant is to start operations in the second half of next year, the company said.
Sampo plans to redevelop the land in Linkou to keep with the government’s industrial development plan, it added.
The company said it earlier this year rezoned a 13,200m2 plot in New Taipei City’s Tucheng District (土城) from industrial to residential use, but provided no further plans for the land.
The company in June last year sold a plot of land containing its plant in Taichung’s Tanzih District (潭子) for NT$535 million, with a disposal gain of about NT$369 million, which is expected to contribute to profits this quarter, Chiang said.
Sampo’s first-quarter net income dropped 5.8 percent annually to NT$102.15 million, or earnings per share (EPS) of NT$0.28. Gross margin decreased 1.48 percentage points to 17.29 percent.
Shareholders yesterday approved the company’s proposal to distribute a cash dividend of NT$1.4, which represents a payout ratio of 92.11 percent based on last year’s EPS of NT$1.52.
That was a dividend yield of 8 percent based on the stock’s closing price of NT$17.5 in Taipei trading yesterday.
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