Aspeed Technology Inc (信驊), the world’s biggest supplier of baseboard management controller (BMC) for servers, yesterday said it is confident of achieving revenue growth of 15 to 20 percent annually this year as a global chip shortage becomes less of a challenge in the second half of the year.
The severe chip crunch had curbed the company’s growth momentum in the first half of this year, with revenue growing 2.03 percent year-on-year to NT$1.67 billion (US$59.98 million).
“With the chip shortage easing in the second half, we believe that our growth target of 15 to 20 percent should be achievable,” Aspeed chairman Chris Lin (林鴻明) told an online investors’ conference arranged by the Taipei Exchange.
Photo: CNA
The rise would have exceeded 20 percent this year if chip supply matches the company’s demand, Lin said.
In the first seven months of the year, the company’s book-to-bill ratio reached 2 to 3, Lin said, meaning that growth in new orders exceeded its shipments.
Aspeed, which has a 70 percent share of the global BMC market, said it is optimistic about its revenue growth next year as client feedback showed that the world’s major cloud service providers plan to expand capital spending on servers next year and even in 2023.
“Next year will be a year with high-speed growth,” Lin said.
Order visibility is quite clear, with some customers having signed long-term supply agreements until the fourth quarter next year, he said.
To prevent a resurgence of the problem of a chip shortage curbing shipments, Aspeed is adjusting its inventory strategy, first by boosting inventory to two to three months instead of less than one month, Lin said.
It is also seeking a second chip supplier, although it is costly and time-consuming for the company and its customers, Lin said.
Aspeed reported that net profit contracted 6.6 percent to NT$301.47 million during the quarter ending June 30, compared with NT$322.77 million a year earlier.
That translated into earnings of NT$8.81 per share last quarter, down from NT$9.46 a year ago.
On a quarterly basis, net profit rose 22.14 percent from NT$346.83 million, or NT$7.21 per share.
Gross margin jumped to a record 65.28 percent last quarter, from 63.94 percent in the previous quarter and 64.24 percent a year earlier, thanks to a better product portfolio and price hikes, the company said.
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