Largan Precision Co (大立光), which supplies camera lenses to Apple Inc, yesterday posted record-high net profit of NT$28.26 billion (US$941.75 million) for last year, thanks to robust customer demand and a higher gross margin.
The company’s net profit increased 16 percent year-on-year from NT$24.37 billion in 2018. Earnings per share last year climbed to NT$210.69 from NT$181.67 in 2018.
Cumulative revenue reached NT$60.75 billion, up 22 percent from NT$49.95 billion in 2018, while gross margin inched up to 69.04 percent from 68.76 percent in 2018.
Net profit in the fourth quarter of last year grew 24.91 percent year-on-year to NT$8.09 billion, or earnings per share of NT$60.32, while fourth-quarter gross margin rose to 71.13 percent from 69.12 percent in the third quarter, thanks to an improved product mix, the company said.
Sales last quarter increased 47.69 percent year-on-year to NT$18.36 billion, but declined 0.68 percent on a quarterly basis, a company financial statement showed.
Revenue this month is expected to fall somewhat from last month due to the Lunar New Year holiday, but revenue next month should trend upward, Largan CEO Adam Lin (林恩平) told investors in an earnings conference.
“The proportion of high-end products shipped increased last quarter,” Lin said, attributing last year’s strong growth to higher shipments of eight-piece plastic lenses, which allow larger apertures and higher resolutions.
Orders of high-end lenses are expected to remain high this year, Lin said, adding that the company has started to design nine-piece lenses to accommodate customer demand.
Largan is still developing glass-and-plastic periscope lenses, a solution to overheating in plastic lenses.
The company still outsources the production of glass components, but is mulling manufacturing the components in-house, Lin said.
Production capacity at the company’s existing plants could still be increased, Lin said, addressing investors’ concerns.
“Our new plant will be ready by 2023, as construction is to begin this year,” Lin added.
The company has searched far and wide, but been unable to find a plot of land that is suitable for production expansion, Lin said when pressed by investors about capacity, adding that the company might rent a facility.
Investors raised concerns over an apparent shortage of raw materials this quarter, but Lin reassured them, although he admitted that suppliers could use more time to expand production.
Sweeping policy changes under US Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr are having a chilling effect on vaccine makers as anti-vaccine rhetoric has turned into concrete changes in inoculation schedules and recommendations, investors and executives said. The administration of US President Donald Trump has in the past year upended vaccine recommendations, with the country last month ending its longstanding guidance that all children receive inoculations against flu, hepatitis A and other diseases. The unprecedented changes have led to diminished vaccine usage, hurt the investment case for some biotechs, and created a drag that would likely dent revenues and
Macronix International Co (旺宏), the world’s biggest NOR flash memory supplier, yesterday said it would spend NT$22 billion (US$699.1 million) on capacity expansion this year to increase its production of mid-to-low-density memory chips as the world’s major memorychip suppliers are phasing out the market. The company said its planned capital expenditures are about 11 times higher than the NT$1.8 billion it spent on new facilities and equipment last year. A majority of this year’s outlay would be allocated to step up capacity of multi-level cell (MLC) NAND flash memory chips, which are used in embedded multimedia cards (eMMC), a managed
CULPRITS: Factors that affected the slip included falling global crude oil prices, wait-and-see consumer attitudes due to US tariffs and a different Lunar New Year holiday schedule Taiwan’s retail sales ended a nine-year growth streak last year, slipping 0.2 percent from a year earlier as uncertainty over US tariff policies affected demand for durable goods, data released on Friday by the Ministry of Economic Affairs showed. Last year’s retail sales totaled NT$4.84 trillion (US$153.27 billion), down about NT$9.5 billion, or 0.2 percent, from 2024. Despite the decline, the figure was still the second-highest annual sales total on record. Ministry statistics department deputy head Chen Yu-fang (陳玉芳) said sales of cars, motorcycles and related products, which accounted for 17.4 percent of total retail rales last year, fell NT$68.1 billion, or
In the wake of strong global demand for AI applications, Taiwan’s export-oriented economy accelerated with the composite index of economic indicators flashing the first “red” light in December for one year, indicating the economy is in booming mode, the National Development Council (NDC) said yesterday. Moreover, the index of leading indicators, which gauges the potential state of the economy over the next six months, also moved higher in December amid growing optimism over the outlook, the NDC said. In December, the index of economic indicators rose one point from a month earlier to 38, at the lower end of the “red” light.
RSS