Topco Technologies Corp (崇越電通), which distributes silicone products made by Shin-Etsu Chemical Co Ltd, yesterday said net profit rose 4.91 percent year-on-year last year, due to a recovery in demand in the second half of last year.
Robust demand for different categories of products, such as those used in consumer electronics, 5G-related devices and automobiles, helped offset the impact caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in the first half of last year, Topco said in a statement.
Net profit climbed to NT$394.24 million (US$13.89 million) last year, up from NT$375.8 million in 2019. That translated into earnings per share of NT$5.32, up from NT$5.1 a year earlier.
The company said that it is optimistic about this year’s business outlook given healthy demand for silicone products, but a lack of shipping containers has added to supply constraints.
As there is expected to be a supply crunch for some time, Shin-Etsu Chemical, the world’s biggest supplier of silicone products, said on Monday that it would raise its product prices by 10 to 20 percent from next month.
“The cost of silicon metal, the main raw material of silicones, is rising with such background factors as supply shortages due to China’s robustly increasing demand, as well as increases in production costs,” the Tokyo-based company said in a statement on its Web site.
Topco’s board of directors has approved a proposal to distribute a cash dividend of NT$4.3 per common share, representing a payout ratio of 80.82 percent, and indicating a dividend yield of 5.86 percent based on the company’s stock price of NT$73.4 yesterday.
The company yesterday posted revenue of NT$542.76 million for last month, up 12.39 percent from NT$482.91 million a year earlier.
Revenue slumped 31.31 percent from NT$790.2 million in January as the Lunar New Year holiday affected the number of working days, it said.
In the first two months of this year, combined revenue surged 31.48 percent to NT$1.33 billion from NT$1.01 billion a year earlier.
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