Despite booking a 29.6 percent increase in revenues in the first quarter compared with the same period last year, local contract notebook maker Wistron Corp (緯創) reported a 15.5 percent drop in profits during the same period because of adverse market conditions.
Net profit was NT$1.42 billion (US$42 million) in the first quarter, or NT$0.94 earnings per share, down from NT$1.68 billion, or NT$1.21 earnings per share, in the same period last year. Revenues were NT$112.52 million for the quarter.
Wistron expects operating margins to return to normal levels of between 5 percent and 6 percent by the third quarter or fourth quarter, after a 4.34 percent operating margin in the first quarter.
“The first quarter operating margin was below expectations because we are still in a transition period after consolidating Lite-On Technology Corp’s (光寶科技) LCD monitor business,” Wistron chairman and chief executive officer Simon Lin (林憲銘) said during a teleconference call with investors yesterday.
To improve its operating margin, Wistron is adjusting its product mix on the notebook side, Lin said. The company has seen order visibility into the July to August period and forecasts quarterly growth of 10 percent in shipments for this quarter.
Additionally, the company’s board approved a filing with the regulators requesting that the company issue no more than 150 million new shares in the form of global depositary receipts this quarter.
Lin said another 150 million shares might be issued in the second half of the year should market conditions improve.
Quanta Computer Inc (廣達電腦), the world’s largest contract PC maker, also said it was seeing more visibility from major notebook brand names and it is also confident about the second half of the year, the company’s vice chairman C.C. Leung (梁次震) told investors at a conference yesterday.
Despite the traditional slow first quarter, Quanta has orders out to three months, Leung said. The company forecasts that it will ship 40 million notebooks this year, up 10 percent from last year, he said.
For the first quarter, Quanta booked NT$4.38 billion in net profits, up 9.5 percent from NT$4 billion posted in the same period last year. Earnings per share was NT$1.22, compared with last year’s NT$1.16.
Compal Electronics Inc (仁寶), the second-largest contract PC maker, yesterday posted a 13 percent decline in first-quarter net profits at NT$2.80 billion, or NT$0.84 earnings per share, compared with the same period last year.
The Neihu-based company said because of its heavy emphasis on notebook production, first-quarter sales reached NT$109.18 billion, a 2 percent quarterly increase and an annual increase of 7 percent.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday said its materials management head, Vanessa Lee (李文如), had tendered her resignation for personal reasons. The personnel adjustment takes effect tomorrow, TSMC said in a statement. The latest development came one month after Lee reportedly took leave from the middle of last month. Cliff Hou (侯永清), senior vice president and deputy cochief operating officer, is to concurrently take on the role of head of the materials management division, which has been under his supervision, TSMC said. Lee, who joined TSMC in 2022, was appointed senior director of materials management and
Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) on Thursday met with US President Donald Trump at the White House, days before a planned trip to China by the head of the world’s most valuable chipmaker, people familiar with the matter said. Details of what the two men discussed were not immediately available, and the people familiar with the meeting declined to elaborate on the agenda. Spokespeople for the White House had no immediate comment. Nvidia declined to comment. Nvidia’s CEO has been vocal about the need for US companies to access the world’s largest semiconductor market and is a frequent visitor to China.
Hypermarket chain Carrefour Taiwan and upscale supermarket chain Mia C’bon on Saturday announced the suspension of their partnership with Jkopay Co (街口支付), one of Taiwan’s largest digital payment providers, amid a lawsuit involving its parent company. Carrefour and Mia C’bon said they would notify customers once Jkopay services are reinstated. The two retailers joined an array of other firms in suspending their partnerships with Jkopay. On Friday night, popular beverage chain TP Tea (茶湯會) also suspended its use of the platform, urging customers to opt for alternative payment methods. Another drinks brand, Guiji (龜記), on Friday said that it is up to individual
STABLE RESULTS: Despite June’s lower consolidated revenue, second-quarter sales still reached a record high, driven by demand for chips for AI applications Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday reported consolidated sales of NT$263.71 billion (US$9.02 billion) for last month, its second-lowest monthly result this year. The world’s largest contract chipmaker said in a statement that its revenue last month only fared better than the NT$260.01 billion posted in February. Last month’s figure rose 26.9 percent from a year earlier, but slumped 17.7 percent from May, the company said. However, second-quarter revenue reached NT$933.8 billion, a record high for a single quarter, company data showed. The figure represented growth of 11.26 percent from the first quarter and 38.6 percent from a year earlier. Previously, TSMC said that
RSS