Local electronic component maker Lite-On Technology Corp (光寶科技) yesterday reported the best quarterly earnings in two years, thanks to recovering demand for computers amid an improving global economy.
Lite-On, which has been in the LED business for the last three decades, earned NT$2.56 billion (US$80.47 million) in the final quarter of last year, a sevenfold increase from NT$325 million in the same period of 2008, meaning that the company’s operation has rebounded to pre-economic-crisis levels, the company said.
The company expected the upturn to carry on into this quarter and the next quarter.
“Every business unit is growing ... The second quarter will grow when compared to the first quarter [by revenues],” company chief executive Terng Kuang-chung (滕光中) said at a media briefing yesterday.
The forecast has factored in shortages of key components such as transformers and the possibility of double booking, Terng said, adding that the supply of those components is manageable at the moment.
Last year as a whole, Lite-On’s net income climbed 50 percent to NT$7.05 billion, up from NT$4.69 billion in 2008. Revenues, however, were down 7.8 percent to NT$97.23 billion from NT$105.45 billion.
Lite-On made 40 percent of its revenues last year from supplying power supply units used in notebook computers, desktop computers and servers. A further 12 percent of its revenues was made by supplying LED modules and packaging services.
To cope with growing demand for its electronic components, Lite-On plans to increase its capital spending to between NT$3 billion and NT$3.8 billion, up from the nearly NT$2 billion budgeted for last year. Capital spending this year also includes building a new LED factory in China. The new plant is set to start operation in November and the company is in talks with LED lighting solution providers to supply high-power LED modules, Terng said.
Lite-On has begun shipping large amounts of LED modules used in LED TVs and monitors over the past few months, matching the uptake in sales of ultra-slim flat-panel TVs.
Separately, Lite-On’s fully-owned solar farm builder and panel assembler Lite-On Green Technologies Inc (光寶綠能) yesterday said it had landed a new contract from local Chinese governments to install 41 megawatt solar power plants and assemble solar panels on roof tops in Jiangsu Province.
The installation is scheduled to be completed by the end of next year, Lite-On said.
The company plans to seek new deals in other provinces in China after building a strong foothold in Europe.
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