Electronic components supplier Lite-On Technology Corp (光寶科技) yesterday reported that net profit last quarter fell 4 percent year-on-year to NT$2.99 billion (US$103.37 million), from NT$3.11 billion in the same period last year.
That translated into earnings per share (EPS) of NT$1.29, down from NT$1.34 a year earlier. On a quarterly basis, net profit contracted 13 percent from NT$3.45 billion, or EPS of NT$1.48, in the second quarter.
Gross margin increased to 19 percent from 16.2 percent in the third quarter last year, which was a decline from 19.4 percent in the second quarter.
Photo: Chen Rou-chen, Taipei Times
Operating profit for the third quarter grew 23 percent year-on-year to NT$3.99 billion from NT$3.35 billion, as the company recognized a substantial asset impairment loss.
‘NO IMPACT’
“In surveying the current state and likely future trends of the global CD-ROM reader industry, we have decided to recognize a goodwill impairment of about NT$700 million,” the company said in its revenue statement.
The impairment would have “no impact” on cash flow or revenue, the statement added.
Lite-On president Anson Chiu (邱森彬) said that he sees the work-from-home trend continuing through the first half of next year.
“As long as COVID-19 is still around, the demand [for work-from-home equipment] would still be around,” Chiu said, adding that “we will continue to see double-digit percentage growth in revenue from laptop-related products in the fourth quarter on a year-on-year basis.”
‘GOOD NEWS’
He is also optimistic that Lite-On’s automotive and 5G-related product categories would see positive movement next year.
Chiu also said there would be “good news” for the company’s 5G base stations in the first quarter next year.
Lite-On’s automotive products would also start contributing more seriously to revenue, he added.
“As Lite-On sheds underperforming departments, we expect gross margin and operating profit margin to keep improving in the fourth quarter on a year-on-year basis,” Chiu said.
Third-quarter revenue fell 14 percent to NT$41.33 billion from NT$48.16 billion in the third quarter last year.
Cumulative net profit for the first three quarters was NT$8.01 billion, a 15 percent increase year-on-year.
EPS for that period were NT$3.45, up from NT$3 from a year earlier.
SEMICONDUCTORS: The German laser and plasma generator company will expand its local services as its specialized offerings support Taiwan’s semiconductor industries Trumpf SE + Co KG, a global leader in supplying laser technology and plasma generators used in chip production, is expanding its investments in Taiwan in an effort to deeply integrate into the global semiconductor supply chain in the pursuit of growth. The company, headquartered in Ditzingen, Germany, has invested significantly in a newly inaugurated regional technical center for plasma generators in Taoyuan, its latest expansion in Taiwan after being engaged in various industries for more than 25 years. The center, the first of its kind Trumpf built outside Germany, aims to serve customers from Taiwan, Japan, Southeast Asia and South Korea,
Gasoline and diesel prices at domestic fuel stations are to fall NT$0.2 per liter this week, down for a second consecutive week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) announced yesterday. Effective today, gasoline prices at CPC and Formosa stations are to drop to NT$26.4, NT$27.9 and NT$29.9 per liter for 92, 95 and 98-octane unleaded gasoline respectively, the companies said in separate statements. The price of premium diesel is to fall to NT$24.8 per liter at CPC stations and NT$24.6 at Formosa pumps, they said. The price adjustments came even as international crude oil prices rose last week, as traders
SIZE MATTERS: TSMC started phasing out 8-inch wafer production last year, while Samsung is more aggressively retiring 8-inch capacity, TrendForce said Chipmakers are expected to raise prices of 8-inch wafers by up to 20 percent this year on concern over supply constraints as major contract chipmakers Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and Samsung Electronics Co gradually retire less advanced wafer capacity, TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said yesterday. It is the first significant across-the-board price hike since a global semiconductor correction in 2023, the Taipei-based market researcher said in a report. Global 8-inch wafer capacity slid 0.3 percent year-on-year last year, although 8-inch wafer prices still hovered at relatively stable levels throughout the year, TrendForce said. The downward trend is expected to continue this year,
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which supplies advanced chips to Nvidia Corp and Apple Inc, yesterday reported NT$1.046 trillion (US$33.1 billion) in revenue for last quarter, driven by constantly strong demand for artificial intelligence (AI) chips, falling in the upper end of its forecast. Based on TSMC’s financial guidance, revenue would expand about 22 percent sequentially to the range from US$32.2 billion to US$33.4 billion during the final quarter of 2024, it told investors in October last year. Last year in total, revenue jumped 31.61 percent to NT$3.81 trillion, compared with NT$2.89 trillion generated in the year before, according to
RSS