Electronic components supplier Lite-On Technology Corp (光寶科技) yesterday said it expects revenue to grow at a quarterly pace of 10 percent this quarter, thanks to shipment delays of some automotive devices, computers and consumer electronics due to key component shortages.
The company’s revenue last quarter grew to NT$41.86 billion (US$1.49 billion) — its highest level in about seven quarters.
“The fourth quarter is normally an off-season ... but the third quarter [revenue] was affected by component and material shortages. We believe it should be okay to [expect] 10 percent revenue growth in the fourth quarter,” Lite-On president Anson Chiu (邱森彬) told investors in an online conference yesterday.
Photo: Chen Rou-chen, Taipei Times
The company was concerned about the chip shortage, but it altered its product designs at the beginning of this year to minimize the impact, Chiu said, adding that China’s electricity curbs have had a very limited effect on Lite-On as it has expanded capacity in Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.
Automotive electronics and cloud-based and artificial intelligence of things (AIoT) devices, both of which deliver a higher gross margin than the corporate average, would be the main growth drivers this quarter, extending last quarter’s robust growth momentum, he said.
The company also maintains an optimistic outlook for next year as its optoelectronics business is expected to grow 15 to 20 percent year-on-year, Chiu said.
Lite-On’s optoelectronics business, which offers outdoor lighting, automotive electronics and optoelectronic product solutions, contributed 20 percent to its revenue last quarter.
Its cloud and AIoT business made up 28 percent of the company’s revenue, with products including electronic components used in data centers, servers and smart devices.
Electronic components for information technology and consumer electronics products such as notebook computers and game consoles were the biggest source of revenue, making up about 52 percent, the company said.
Lite-On yesterday reported that net profit grew 3 percent to NT$3.08 billion last quarter from NT$2.99 billion a year earlier, thanks to robust demand for power units used in cloud computing devices, electric vehicles and PCs.
That represented a quarterly decline of 24 percent from NT$4.03 billion, after some impairment losses were booked.
Earnings per share rose to NT$1.33 last quarter from NT$1.29 a year earlier, but dropped from NT$1.74 in the second quarter.
Gross margin rose to 19.3 percent last quarter from 19 percent a year earlier, but declined from 19.7 percent in the second quarter.
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