Fulgent Sun International Holding Co (鈺齊國際) on Thursday reported increased sales and net profit for the fourth quarter of last year, thanks to robust orders, larger manufacturing capacity, improved production efficiency and better financial controls.
The supplier of global brand sports shoes and functional outdoor shoes said that net profit for the quarter hit a record high of NT$388.31 million (US$14.02 million), up 107.8 percent from NT$186.88 million a year earlier.
Earnings per share were NT$2.09, up from NT$1.01 a year earlier, it said.
Photo: Liao Shu-ling, Taipei Times
Sales for the quarter were NT$4.498 billion, up 51 percent from a year earlier, while gross margin for the three months was 19.1 percent compared with 20.2 percent the previous year, the company said.
“Although gross margin in the fourth quarter was lower than a year before, it rose by 1.3 percentage points from 17.8 percent in the third quarter, and much higher than the 14.4 percent in the second quarter, when the company’s operations were deeply affected by the COVID-19 pandemic,” Fulgent Sun said in a statement.
Better expense controls led to an operating margin increase of 1.8 percentage points quarter-on-quarter to 11.5 percent in the fourth quarter, the highest of last year, it said.
Fulgent’s headquarters are in Yunlin County’s Douliou City (斗六), with seven production bases overseas — three in China, three in Vietnam and one in Cambodia.
Last year, operations in Vietnam accounted for 50 percent of output, with China reporting 31.1 percent and Cambodia 18.9 percent.
As with many of its peers, the company was forced to stop production at its overseas operations last year due to COVID-19 outbreaks, first in Cambodia in May, and then in Vietnam from June to July.
“The impact of the pandemic on manufacturing last year was far greater than in 2020,” Fulgent said.
However, with flexible responses and accelerated expansion of production capacity, the company reported record revenue of NT$15.54 billion for last year, increasing 37 percent from NT$11.35 billion in 2020.
Net profit for the year was NT$1.18 billion, the second-highest in the company’s history and up 32.3 percent from NT$897.58 million in 2020, it said, adding that earnings per share were NT$6.39, compared with NT$5.06 a year earlier.
Gross margin and operating margin for the year fell to 18 percent and 9.5 percent respectively, from 21 percent and 11.2 percent a year earlier due to unfavorable foreign exchange rates.
Fulgent said that it has 50 brand clients, with 10 brands accounting for about 80 percent of its revenue last year.
The company said it would continue developing new customers in the coming year after last year adding clients such as Columbia Sportswear Co, Callaway Golf Co and its subsidiary Cuater, Alfa Sko AS and On Inc, maker of the Run on Clouds brand.
European markets comprised 48.2 percent of Fulgent’s sales last year, with 40.9 percent in North America, the company said, adding that it expects growth to continue as orders for spring and summer shoes are robust.
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