Powertech Technology Inc (力成科技), the nation’s biggest computer memorychip packager, yesterday said its consolidated net income hit NT$1.67 billion (US$5.81 million) in the first quarter of the year, better than Citigroup’s forecast of NT$1.57 billion.
First-quarter earnings were down 5.81 percent on the same period last year and 8.24 percent lower than the previous quarter, company data showed.
The Hsinchu-based company said in a stock exchange filing that earnings per share were NT$2.3 in the first quarter, compared with NT$2.5 in the fourth quarter and NT$2.52 a year earlier.
The company’s gross margin of 24.5 percent in the first quarter was lower than the 25.1 percent in the fourth quarter, but higher than the 23.2 percent predicted by Citigroup.
Consolidated sales in the January-to-March period totaled NT$9.76 billion, up 12.8 percent year-on-year, but down 2.98 percent quarter-on-quarter, Powertech said.
Going forward, Powertech reiterated that the first quarter would be the “trough quarter” this year and said it expected revenue to grow by between 5 percent and 10 percent sequentially in the second quarter, according to an analyst, who attended the company’s investor conference held yesterday at a Taipei hotel.
This quarter, rising demand for Powertech’s testing and packaging services will bring up the factory utilization rate to between 90 percent and 95 percent from about 90 percent last quarter. Capital expenditure, meanwhile, will increase to NT$11 billion this year from the original forecast of NT$10 billion, said the analyst, who declined to be named.
Powertech reported NT$12 billion in capital spending last year.
“Powertech could be the least impacted among its industry peers by the supply chain disruption after the earthquake in Japan last month,” he said.
Citigroup analyst Roland Shu (徐振志) said in a client note yesterday that demand for NAND flash memory remained strong while operations at Toshiba Corp, a major NAND flash maker, had returned to normal faster than expected.
Shu forecast Powertech's second-quarter revenue would rise 6.84 percent to NT$10.43 billion from the first quarter, while net income would grow 9.82 percent to NT$1.83 billion, the note showed.
Citigroup maintained a “buy” rating on Powertech, with a target price of NT$125.
Powertech shares fell 0.2 percent to NT$97.5 yesterday on the Taiwan Stock Exchange, ahead of the release of the company’s quarterly results.
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