Semiconductor inspection tool and equipment maker Hermes Microvision Inc (漢微科) yesterday posted its weakest quarterly net profit in 10 quarters of NT$437.82 million (US$14.1 million) for last quarter as shipments fell on weak seasonal demand after a US customer delayed equipment delivery and factory equipment relocation.
The figure fell short of forecasts by Capital Investment Management Corp (群益投顧) and SinoPac Securities Investment Service Co (永豐投顧). Capital Investment predicted Hermes Microvision would post NT$584 million in profit for last quarter, while SinoPac Securities estimated NT$675 million profit in the first three months.
Last quarter’s figure represented a 25-percent decline from NT$584.31 billion in the same period of last year, the company said in a statement. On a quarterly basis, net profit plunged about 70 percent from NT$1.46 billion.
Earnings per share were NT$6.17 last quarter, compared with NT$8.23 the previous year and NT$20.47 in the previous quarter. Revenue for the first three months of the year expanded by 34 percent from a year earlier to NT$1.57 billion, but declined by 42 percent from the previous quarter.
CEO Jack Jau (招允佳) last month warned investors about the weak quarterly results.
“The first quarter will be a weak period. However, demand in the second and third quarters looks solid,” he said. “We have six-month order visibility to the third quarter.”
Hermes Microvision forecast revenue growth of 25 percent to 35 percent this year from last year’s NT$7.21 billion. The growth is to be driven by increasing demand for advanced and higher-priced e-beam inspection tools, Jau said.
The company started shipping a new e-beam tool, the eP4, last quarter and plans to deliver two other advanced tools in the second half of the year.
Shares in Hermes Microvision dropped by 1.39 percent to NT$2,130 yesterday on the over-the-counter market, compared with the benchmark GRETAI index, which fell 0.05 percent.
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