Tong Hsing Electronic Industries Inc (同欣電), an image sensor packaging services arm of Yageo Corp (國巨), yesterday said that the COVID-19 pandemic has not negatively affected demand and it expects revenue to grow by a double-digit percentage year-on-year this quarter, despite it being likely to decline by a single-digit percentage quarter-on-quarter from NT$2.09 billion (US$68.7 million) due to seasonal weakness.
“Our business performance will meet our guidance as customer demand remains intact, despite the COVID-19 outbreak,” Tong Hsing president Heinz Ru (呂紹萍) told investors in a teleconference.
The pandemic has had a minor impact on the firm’s factory in the Philippines due to transportation restrictions, but it is mainly operating normally as export-oriented industries are exempt from the quarantine measures imposed by the Philippine government, Ru said.
The company’s plants in Taipei and Taoyuan are also operating normally, thanks to a smooth supply of raw materials, he said.
“The first quarter will be very different this year compared with the same period in previous years. We expect strong growth this quarter and are also optimistic about the second-quarter outlook,” he said.
CMOS image sensor (CIS) packaging services would grow at the fastest rate this quarter, supported by growing demand for higher-resolution cameras for smartphones in China and for multiple-camera handsets, he said.
To cope with strong demand for CIS services, Tong Hsing plans to more than double its monthly capacity to 160,000 wafers at its plant in Taoyuan’s Longtan District (龍潭), Ru said.
As a result, capital expenditure this year is set to soar to NT$2.17 billion from NT$657.25 million last year, the company said.
Tong Hsing expects the CIS business to become its biggest source of revenue this year, replacing the ceramic substrate business, following the acquisition of CIS service provider Kingpak Technology Inc (勝麗), it said.
Ceramic substrates accounted for 40 percent of the company’s revenue last year.
Tong Hsing posted a net profit of NT$741.96 million for last year, down 26.8 percent from NT$1.01 billion in 2018, primarily due to foreign-exchange losses of NT$42 million during the final quarter of the year.
Earnings per share fell to NT$4.49 from NT$6.13.
Gross margin last year shrank to 21.5 percent from 25.7 percent in 2018 due to an unfavorable product mix.
Revenue rose 0.2 percent to NT$7.43 billion last year, from NT$7.41 billion in 2018.
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