Chunghwa Precision Test Technology Co (CHPT, 中華精測), a wafer and chip testing service provider, yesterday said that net profit surged 41.6 percent to NT$235 million (US$8.28 million) last quarter from NT$166 million a year earlier due to recovering demand for its vertical probe cards.
On a quarterly basis, net profit contracted 18.1 percent from NT$287 million as the industry entered a slow season, the company said.
Earnings per share (EPS) were NT$7.16 last quarter, compared with NT$5.06 a year earlier and NT$8.75 the previous quarter, CHPT said.
Photo: CNA
“Probe card sales have become a critical support to the company’s revenue during the off-peak period,” it said in a statement.
Revenue from vertical probe cards jumped to 46 percent last quarter from 16 percent in the prior quarter as shipments were postponed from the third quarter last year, due to a verification process delay, CHPT said.
Probe cards accounted for 27 percent of the company’s total revenue last year, higher than the company’s guidance of 20 to 25 percent, the Taoyuan-based company said.
Net profit last year surged about 50 percent to an all-time high of NT$934 million from NT$621.93 million in 2019, or a rise in EPS from NT$19.07 to NT$28.48, it said.
The board of directors yesterday approved a cash dividend distribution of NT$12 per share, representing a payout ratio of 42.13 percent.
Revenue dropped 19.7 percent to NT$268 million last month from NT$333.94 million in December last year amid sluggish demand in the slow season, the company said.
That represented a mild decline of 2.46 percent from NT$275.02 million in January last year, it said.
However, a rise in demand for probe cards for application-specific ICs used in consumer electronics and radio frequency ICs, along with a stable increase in probe cards for 5G smartphone application processors, would continue to support revenue performance, it said.
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