Handset camera lens maker Largan Precision Co (大立光) yesterday posted a 1.48 percent year-on-year increase in revenue for last month, ending two consecutive months of annual declines.
Consolidated revenue was NT$4.14 billion (US$139.82 million), compared with NT$4.08 billion a year earlier. The figure was a 6.98 percent increase from NT$3.87 billion in May, company data showed.
Despite last month’s growth in sales, Largan’s second-quarter revenue retreated 4.09 percent to NT$12.69 billion, compared with NT$13.23 billion in the first quarter, marking its lowest in the past five quarters and showing that the world’s largest handset camera lens supplier could not avoid the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Taichung-based company beat Capital Investment Management Corp’s (群益投顧) forecast for second-quarter revenue of NT$12.58 billion.
“In the second quarter, Largan might commence more shipments of new products, such as seven-piece lenses and periscope-zoom lenses, which might boost its average selling price,” Capital said in a note.
Largan makes high-end products for Apple Inc’s iPhone and Android phone vendors, such as Huawei Technologies Co (華為) and Samsung Electronics Co.
The company’s 20-megapixel lenses and other high-end models, which command higher prices, last month accounted for 20 to 30 percent of its total sales, while its 10-megapixel lenses made up 40 to 50 percent and 8-megapixel lenses 10 to 20 percent, Largan said in a statement.
As the pandemic has gradually eased, its effects on the smartphone market appear to have stopped worsening, and handset component suppliers are expected in the third quarter to begin shipments in preparation for product launches from major vendors.
“High-end handset models, such as Huawei’s Mate 40, Samsung’s Note 20 and the 5G iPhone models, are expected to be launched in the third quarter,” Capital said. “5G iPhones might make the most significant contribution to Largan’s revenue in the third quarter.”
In the first half of the year, Largan’s cumulative revenue was NT$25.86 billion, up 8.2 percent from NT$23.9 billion a year earlier, the company’s regulatory filings showed.
Largan is to release its earnings results for the second quarter at an investors’ conference on Thursday, and give sales guidance for the third quarter, as well as provide an update on the construction of its new manufacturing facilities in the Taichung Industrial Park (台中工業區).
Due to the company’s still-lackluster capacity utilization rate and the lower yield rates of new products, second-quarter gross margin is estimated to fall to 68.31 percent, from 69.8 percent in the first quarter, and net profit is forecast to decline 19.97 percent to NT$5.38 billion, or earnings per share of NT$40.1, Capital said.
Largan shares on Friday rose 1.88 percent to NT$4,325 in Taipei trading. They have fallen 23 percent this year, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed.
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