Asustek Computer Inc (華碩電腦) yesterday said that its net profit last quarter soared about 10-fold to NT$9.79 billion (US$350.21 million) from a year earlier, aided by strong demand for PCs amid work and study-from-home trends due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Last quarter was the best first quarter in the company’s history.
Asustek posted a net profit of NT$888 million in the first quarter of last year.
Photo courtesy of Asustek Computer Inc
On a quarterly basis, net profit contracted 1 percent from NT$9.85 billion.
Earnings per share rose to NT$13.2 last quarter from NT$1.2 a year earlier, the company said.
Gross margin improved to 22 percent last quarter from 16.4 percent in the same period last year and 17.7 percent a quarter earlier, it said.
PC shipments surged 70 percent year-on-year last quarter, with the fastest growth of 170 percent coming from commercial and education PCs, Asustek said.
Gaming PCs came in next with an annual expansion of 75 percent, while regular PC shipments rose 50 percent.
Asustek gave an upbeat outlook for this quarter, saying that demand remains robust, but a shortage of key components continues to cause bottlenecks.
There is a big supply gap of 25 to 30 percent this quarter, it said.
Asustek expects the growth momentum to continue this quarter, with PC shipments expanding by 5 to 10 percent sequentially or 20 to 30 percent annually.
Component shipments this quarter are expected to drop by 5 to 10 percent sequentially, Asustek said.
On an annual basis, that would represent an increase of about 30 percent, it said.
PCs contributed about 60 percent to the company’s revenue of NT$108.1 billion in the first three months of this year, while components made up 39 percent, the company said.
Mobile phones only accounted for 1 percent of its total revenue, it said.
The company on Friday last week reported revenue of NT$39.1 billion for last month, down 14.73 percent from March, but up 72.15 percent from a year earlier, thanks to strong demand for its laptops and motherboards.
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