Touch-panel manufacturer TPK Holding Co’s (宸鴻) board yesterday approved a proposal to distribute higher dividends after net profit soared to a record high last year.
The board approved the distribution of NT$21 in cash dividends per share, which translate into a payout ratio of 50 percent based on last year’s net profit of NT$13.83 billion (US$465 million), or NT$42.24 per share.
In total, TPK would pay out NT$6.87 billion in cash dividends, up from the NT$5.42 billion in combined cash and stock payouts last year, Apple Inc’s supplier said in a filing to the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
That implies a dividend yield of 3.53 percent, based on TPK’s stock price of NT$595 yesterday.
The payout plan still has to be approved at the annual shareholders’ meeting on May 22.
Last year, TPK distributed NT$20 per share in cash dividends and 30 percent in stock dividends, based on 2011’s net profit of NT$11.34 billion, or NT$35.81 per share.
Meanwhile, Amtran Technology Co (瑞軒科技), which assembles flat panel TVs for Vizio Inc, yesterday saw its shares soar to a three-month high after it raised its proposed cash dividend payout.
The stock closed near the 7 percent daily limit at NT$22.65, its highest level since Jan. 3, easily outperforming the benchmark index, which closed flat.
On Tuesday, Amtran’s board approved a proposal to distribute cash dividends of NT$2.5 per share based on last year’s net profit of NT$1.92 billion, or NT$2.19 per share, and accumulated earnings from previous years. That implies a dividend yield of 11 percent.
Last year, Amtran distributed a cash dividend of NT$2 per share after making a net profit of NT$1.51 a share.
Amtran’s operating margin was unchanged at 2 percent last year from 2011, while its gross margin slid to 10 percent from 12.13 percent in 2011, it said in a filing to the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
In January, Amtran chairman Alpha Wu (吳春發) said TV shipments would expand about 20 percent this year to 7 million units, compared with 5.8 million units last year.
The company said it planned to roll out more big-screen TVs, with 50-inch and 55-inch models among its major product lineup.
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