Acer Inc, the world's third-largest notebook-computer supplier, yesterday announced consolidated revenues at NT$318.09 billion (US$9.69 billion) for last year, representing growth of 41.4 percent from a year earlier.
The company's profit after tax was NT$8.48 billion, up 20.9 percent from last year, the company said in a statement.
Acer's earning per share for last year was NT$3.83; operating income was NT$7.65 billion, showing an annual growth of 100.9 percent, it said.
"Acer's results are disappointing both in the operating and bottom-line levels," said Robert Cheng, a Taipei-based analyst with CLSA Asia Pacific Markets. "Slowing demand in Europe and head-to-head competition limited the improvement in the margin."
Fourth-quarter operating income rose 51 percent to NT$2.27 billion from NT$1.5 billion, Acer said.
Fourth-quarter non-operating income fell 80 percent to NT$584 million, according to the statement.
Operating margin, the percentage of sales after production costs and operating expenses, rose to 2.2 percent from 2.1 percent a year earlier and 2.2 percent in the third quarter, the company said.
The "core computer business was strong in the period if [one looks at] operating income," Acer senior public relations officer Henry Wang (
Fewer "investment gains from asset sales in the fourth quarter last year dragged the profit," he said.
This year, the company forecast it would earn NT$400 billion in consolidated revenues, NT$10.8 billion in operating income, and NT$10 billion in profit-after-tax.
"Upon achieving these financial targets for 2006, Acer will set another record high in its 30-year history," the statement read.
Acer unseated Toshiba Corp as the world's third-biggest supplier of notebook computers in the fourth quarter of last year.
The company increased its market share to 12.2 percent from 10 percent a year earlier, according to market research Gartner Inc. Toshiba's share fell to 10.5 percent, while Lenovo Group Ltd (
Domestically, Acer ranked as the second-largest notebook computer vendor in the fourth quarter after Asustek Computer Inc (
Acer was followed by Lenovo, Hewlett-Packard and Toshiba, IDC Taiwan said.
Shares of Acer fell 0.8 percent to close at NT$65.50 yesterday on the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
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