Young Fast Optoelectronics Co (洋華光電), a supplier of touch sensors and modules, yesterday said it last year made a net profit of NT$119 million (US$3.86 million), snapping seven straight years of losses, as it benefited from an asset rejuvenation.
That translated into earnings per share of NT$0.79, a reversal from net losses of NT$6 million, a loss per share of NT$0.04, in 2017, the company said in a financial statement.
Non-operating income spiked to NT$253 million from NT$62 million a year earlier.
The gains mainly came from leasing idle land in Vietnam and dividend income from its holdings of local financial services providers such as Mega Financial Holding Co (兆豐金控) and First Financial Holding Co (第一金控), Young Fast said.
However, a four-year effort to restructure its core businesses, which has included a shift away from the volatile consumer electronics sector, remained muted, it said.
Young Fast saw its operating losses widen to NT$110 million last year, compared with operating losses of NT$73 million in 2017, attributed to flagging demand for touch sensors and modules used in mobile phones and tablets, as well as an overcapacity-driven price decline.
Revenue shrank at an annual pace of 17.34 percent to NT$739 million from NT$894 million the previous year.
“We expect the operations of our optoelectronics segment to improve this year, as we are adding new, bigger-sized touch products to the existing lineup,” Young Fast president Eric Hsu (許益川) told an investors’ teleconference.
The firm said it could break even if it boosts its touch product revenue to NT$700 million per year.
To turn around its touch product businesses, the company is increasing its expansion into industrial devices, targeting large-sized touch modules used in ATMs and sports equipment.
The company also resumed a production line to produce glass-based touch sensors, which is expected to contribute revenue this year, chairman Albert Pai (白志強) said.
Young Fast primarily makes film-based touch sensors.
Touch sensors and modules used in industrial devices accounted for 55 percent of the company’s touch product revenue of NT$425 million last year.
Young Fast generated 42 percent of its revenue from mechanical devices.
It this year plans to distribute a cash dividend for a second consecutive year, after issuing NT$0.3 per common share last year.
The board of directors is to meet to discuss the amount.
Shares of Young Fast yesterday rose 0.6 percent to NT$16.65 in Taipei trading.
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