Novatek Microelectronics Corp (聯詠), which makes driver ICs for LCD panels, yesterday said its net profit last quarter grew 34 percent annually to NT$2.13 billion (NT$68.53 million), or earnings per share (EPS) of NT$3.5, marking the best quarterly earnings in about 11 years.
The company made NT$1.58 billion, or EPS of NT$2.6, in the second quarter of last year.
On a quarterly basis, net profit rose 8.12 percent from NT$1.97 billion.
The Hsinchu-based company said revenue rose 8.12 percent quarterly to NT$16.31 billion from NT$14.95 billion, matching its forecast of NT$16.1 billion to NT$16.6 billion in May, when it said higher penetration of new TDDI chips and rising demand for driver ICs for high-definition and thinner organic LED panels would fuel growth.
About 600 million smartphones worldwide would be equipped with TDDI chips this year, representing a penetration rate of nearly 40 percent, Novatek president Steven Wang (王守仁) told investors on May 7.
That would be a significant jump from a penetration rate of about 25 percent last year, when 400 million premium smartphones were equipped with TDDI chips, Wang said.
Novatek expects that TDDI chip shipments grew 20 percent quarterly to 60 million units during the quarter that ended on June 30, from 50 million in the previous quarter, he said.
Shipments of driver ICs used in active-matrix organic LED panels would double to 6 million units in the second quarter from a quarter earlier, he added.
In the first half of this year, Novatek ‘s revenue rose 31.69 percent to NT$31.25 billion, with net profit surging 63.8 percent to NT$4.09 billion, or EPS of NT$6.73.
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