Asustek Computer Inc (華碩) yesterday said that its net income for its brand business nearly doubled last year on the back of improved business operations, narrowing losses in its mobile phone business, and growing shipments of gaming and ultra-light laptops.
As profit surged 194 percent annually to NT$2.63 billion (US$86.87 million) last quarter, net income last year jumped 187 percent to NT$12.14 billion, Asustek said.
Earnings per share soared from NT$5.7 to NT$16.3 and gross margin rose from 10.6 percent to 13.4 percent, it said.
Although revenue of its brand business last quarter inched up slightly by 1 percent to NT$89.29 billion, full-year revenue declined 6 percent from NT$352.45 billion in 2018 to NT$332.53 billion last year, Asustek said.
Buoyed by the results, Asustek yesterday maintained a confident outlook regarding market demand in the long term, while forecasting a sequential decline in sales this quarter due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
PC sales are expected to fall by up to 40 percent quarter-on-quarter, while components sales would contract by 5 percent, the company said.
“COVID-19 is a big challenge and will impact business in the short term,” Asustek co-CEO S.Y. Hsu (許先越) told investors, adding that the company is facing a decline in demand and difficulties in securing supplies.
“In the mid-term, we expect to see an increase in demand due to the recent rise in distance-leaning and telecommuting,” Hsu said.
“Overall market demand will undoubtedly falter if the virus remains at large … but we [will be able] to rise to such challenges through continuous product innovations and improvements to our operational efficiency,” he said.
“We are [still] seeing positive factors this year, including an end to the shortage of central processing units as well as mining processors … we are also entering a new PC cycle,” Hsu said.
Asustek would continue to focus on developing gaming and ultra-thin laptops, as well as expanding its content creator product line, ProArt, he said.
The company has secured orders for its smart healthcare, smart manufacturing and smart retail solutions, Hsu said.
Asustek’s board of directors yesterday proposed distributing a cash dividend of NT$14 per share.
Separately yesterday, rival PC maker Acer Inc (宏碁) posted net profit of NT$2.63 billion for last quarter, a 13.98 percent decline from the previous year, with earnings per share falling to NT$0.87.
The company’s board of directors has proposed distributing a cash dividend of NT$0.77 per common share.
Nvidia Corp chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) on Monday introduced the company’s latest supercomputer platform, featuring six new chips made by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), saying that it is now “in full production.” “If Vera Rubin is going to be in time for this year, it must be in production by now, and so, today I can tell you that Vera Rubin is in full production,” Huang said during his keynote speech at CES in Las Vegas. The rollout of six concurrent chips for Vera Rubin — the company’s next-generation artificial intelligence (AI) computing platform — marks a strategic
REVENUE PERFORMANCE: Cloud and network products, and electronic components saw strong increases, while smart consumer electronics and computing products fell Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday posted 26.51 percent quarterly growth in revenue for last quarter to NT$2.6 trillion (US$82.44 billion), the strongest on record for the period and above expectations, but the company forecast a slight revenue dip this quarter due to seasonal factors. On an annual basis, revenue last quarter grew 22.07 percent, the company said. Analysts on average estimated about NT$2.4 trillion increase. Hon Hai, which assembles servers for Nvidia Corp and iPhones for Apple Inc, is expanding its capacity in the US, adding artificial intelligence (AI) server production in Wisconsin and Texas, where it operates established campuses. This
US President Donald Trump on Friday blocked US photonics firm HieFo Corp’s US$3 million acquisition of assets in New Jersey-based aerospace and defense specialist Emcore Corp, citing national security and China-related concerns. In an order released by the White House, Trump said HieFo was “controlled by a citizen of the People’s Republic of China” and that its 2024 acquisition of Emcore’s businesses led the US president to believe that it might “take action that threatens to impair the national security of the United States.” The order did not name the person or detail Trump’s concerns. “The Transaction is hereby prohibited,”
Garment maker Makalot Industrial Co (聚陽) yesterday reported lower-than-expected fourth-quarter revenue of NT$7.93 billion (US$251.44 million), down 9.48 percent from NT$8.76 billion a year earlier. On a quarterly basis, revenue fell 10.83 percent from NT$8.89 billion, company data showed. The figure was also lower than market expectations of NT$8.05 billion, according to data compiled by Yuanta Securities Investment and Consulting Co (元大投顧), which had projected NT$8.22 billion. Makalot’s revenue this quarter would likely increase by a mid-teens percentage as the industry is entering its high season, Yuanta said. Overall, Makalot’s revenue last year totaled NT$34.43 billion, down 3.08 percent from its record NT$35.52
RSS