Casetek Holdings Ltd (鎧勝) yesterday gave a conservative guidance on its business outlook this quarter and likely beyond, as order visibility remains low and Japan’s recent earthquakes would disrupt component shipments.
“The macro-environment is worse than during the global financial crisis in 2008 and 2009, and we have to be very cautious about cost controls this time,” chief executive officer Gary Chuang (莊育志) told a teleconference.
The Cayman Islands-registered company, which supplies metal casings for Apple Inc, posted NT$922.35 million (US$28.5 million) in net profit for last quarter, or earnings per share of NT$2.72, company data showed.
The results suggest a mild increase of 2.1 percent from a year earlier, but lower than its own target, Chuang said.
Gross margin slipped to 25.2 percent last quarter, from 32.6 percent for the previous three months, but better than 18.6 percent a year earlier, chief financial officer Jonathan Chang (張昭平) said.
Revenue declines and higher raw material prices accounted for the margin loss, Chang said.
Sales totaled NT$8.42 billion during the first quarter, plunging 31.7 percent from the preceding quarter, company data showed.
“Pricing pressures have risen to an unprecedented high, but Casetek will not embark on cut-throat competition, but aim to be a quality product supplier,” Chang said, adding that drastic price cuts now would affect selling prices later in the high season.
Chuang said he did not see any reason to be upbeat, as the quakes in Japan’s Kumamoto Prefecture last month would delay component supply, while hopes of orders from a major client have proven elusive.
Chuang declined to elaborate on his orders comment except to say it referred to laptops.
Credit Suisse Group AG recently revised down its earnings forecast for Casetek, citing concerns over softening demand for Apple’s devices and a potential delay in the mass production of MacBook components.
Casetek expects business to improve in the second half of the year, with notebook devices to supply the growth momentum, Chuang said.
“The company should be able to gain market share in notebook and tablet casings,” he said.
Casetek also voiced confidence in the light-metal processing technology, saying the market has yet to saturate.
Some analysts have said Apple might plan to switch casing materials to glass from metal for the next-generation iPhone series, which could impact Casetek.
“There is no material change in the next one to two years from NB and tablet customers… As for smartphones, the answer is not clear,” Chuang said.
Shares in Casetek yesterday closed down 3.23 percent to NT$135 on the Taipei Exchange, the local bourse for companies with small and medium capitalization, deeper than TPEX’s 1.04 percent fall.
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
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
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
While China’s leaders use their economic and political might to fight US President Donald Trump’s trade war “to the end,” its army of social media soldiers are embarking on a more humorous campaign online. Trump’s tariff blitz has seen Washington and Beijing impose eye-watering duties on imports from the other, fanning a standoff between the economic superpowers that has sparked global recession fears and sent markets into a tailspin. Trump says his policy is a response to years of being “ripped off” by other countries and aims to bring manufacturing to the US, forcing companies to employ US workers. However, China’s online warriors
RSS