Taiflex Scientific Co (台虹科技), which manufactures flexible printed circuit boards (PCB) and solar backsheets, yesterday reported net income last quarter dropped 10.78 percent annually to NT$121.4 million (US$3.76 million), with earnings per share falling to NT$0.6, due to the slack season and foreign-exchange losses.
In the first quarter, consolidated revenue increased 19.9 percent annually to NT$2.28 billion, which the company attributed to a low comparison base in the same period last year, especially in the solar market.
The sales of the company’s photovoltaic (PV) backsheets increased 35.3 percent to NT$1 billion from the same period a year earlier, while its main product — flexible copper clad laminate (FCCL) — posted a revenue increase of 12.5 percent annually to NT$1.26 billion.
However, on a quarterly basis, sales of FCCL decreased 15.5 percent, while sales of PV backsheets dropped 28.7 percent. FCCL and PV backsheets accounted for 55 percent and 44 percent respectively of the firm’s total sales last quarter.
“Our utilization rate dropped quarterly from more than 80 percent to about 70 percent, while shipments of high-margin products also declined in the quarter, resulting in a decline in last quarter’s gross margin,” Taiflex deputy spokesman Charles Chang (張啟訓) said at an investors’ meeting.
The company’s gross margin last quarter decreased 4.3 percentage points annually, or 1.1 percentage points quarterly, to 19 percent.
Chang said that the company booked foreign-exchange losses of NT$40 million for the January-to-March quarter, mostly because of the depreciation of the New Taiwan dollar against the US dollar.
For this quarter, Taiflex said revenue would rise 8.32 percent annually to between NT$2.4 billion and NT$2.9 billion, while gross margin could rebound to about 20 percent.
The utilization rate is expected to be more than 80 percent this quarter, as the number of working days in this quarter are back to normal and smartphone demand in the Chinese market seems stable, Chang said.
As for the generally pessimistic outlook over Apple Inc’s products due to its poor results last quarter, Taiflex said that downward pressure would be present, but new Apple products might still show strong performances this quarter.
“Sales of electronic products are expected to grow gradually toward the third quarter,” Chang said.
Taiflex’s electronic products, such as FCCL, can be applied to smartphones, tablets and other items, with the US market consuming about 53 percent of its orders, while the Chinese market accounted for 31 percent last year.
The solar market’s outlook is unclear, Chang said, adding that the firm would have to assess demand in China and whether Beijing’s subsidy program would resurface this year.
Taiwan will prioritize the development of silicon photonics by taking advantage of its strength in the semiconductor industry to build another shield to protect the local economy, National Development Council (NDC) Minister Paul Liu (劉鏡清) said yesterday. Speaking at a meeting of the legislature’s Economics Committee, Liu said Taiwan already has the artificial intelligence (AI) industry as a shield, after the semiconductor industry, to safeguard the country, and is looking at new unique fields to build more economic shields. While Taiwan will further strengthen its existing shields, over the longer term, the country is determined to focus on such potential segments as
UNCERTAINTY: Innolux activated a stringent supply chain management mechanism, as it did during the COVID-19 pandemic, to ensure optimal inventory levels for customers Flat-panel display makers AUO Corp (友達) and Innolux Corp (群創) yesterday said that about 12 to 20 percent of their display business is at risk of potential US tariffs and that they would relocate production or shipment destinations to mitigate the levies’ effects. US tariffs would have a direct impact of US$200 million on AUO’s revenue, company chairman Paul Peng (彭雙浪) told reporters on the sidelines of the Touch Taiwan trade show in Taipei yesterday. That would make up about 12 percent of the company’s overall revenue. To cope with the tariff uncertainty, AUO plans to allocate its production to manufacturing facilities in
COLLABORATION: Given Taiwan’s key position in global supply chains, the US firm is discussing strategies with local partners and clients to deal with global uncertainties Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD) yesterday said it is meeting with local ecosystem partners, including Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), to discuss strategies, including long-term manufacturing, to navigate uncertainties such as US tariffs, as Taiwan occupies an important position in global supply chains. AMD chief executive officer Lisa Su (蘇姿丰) told reporters that Taiwan is an important part of the chip designer’s ecosystem and she is discussing with partners and customers in Taiwan to forge strong collaborations on different areas during this critical period. AMD has just become the first artificial-intelligence (AI) server chip customer of TSMC to utilize its advanced
Chizuko Kimura has become the first female sushi chef in the world to win a Michelin star, fulfilling a promise she made to her dying husband to continue his legacy. The 54-year-old Japanese chef regained the Michelin star her late husband, Shunei Kimura, won three years ago for their Sushi Shunei restaurant in Paris. For Shunei Kimura, the star was a dream come true. However, the joy was short-lived. He died from cancer just three months later in June 2022. He was 65. The following year, the restaurant in the heart of Montmartre lost its star rating. Chizuko Kimura insisted that the new star is still down
RSS