Catcher Technology Co (可成), which supplies metal casings for Apple Inc’s iPhone, yesterday posted record-high monthly revenue of NT$6.04 billion (US$188.73 million) for last month and said it expects robust demand for the iPhone 6 models to give an extra boost to the firm’s sales this quarter.
Revenue jumped 54.74 percent last month from NT$3.9 billion a year ago. On a monthly basis, sales were up 8.82 percent from the previous month’s NT$5.55 billion.
That brought Catcher’s revenue last quarter up 17.07 percent to NT$17 billion from the previous quarter’s NT$14.52 billion. For the whole year of last year, consolidated revenue jumped 27.82 percent to NT$55.27 billion from 2013’s NT$43.24 billion, according to the firm’s filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
“We expect the firm’s strong performance to extend to this quarter, thanks to continued robust demand from our clients,” company spokesperson James Wu (巫俊毅) said by telephone.
Yuanta Securities and Investment Consulting Co (元大投顧) analyst Jeff Pu (蒲得宇) said Catcher’s performance exceeded market expectations.
Pu said he expects the company’s revenue this quarter to increase 14 percent sequentially due to strong iPhone sales, a growth driver during a slow season.
However, a potential labor shortage in China after the Lunar New Year holiday could be a downside risk, Pu said.
Pu said Catcher’s gross margin for last quarter likely slid to between 45 percent and 46 percent, from 48.8 percent in the third quarter.
Catcher’s shares rose 1.22 percent to NT$249.50 yesterday, outperforming the TAIEX, which lost 0.36 percent.
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