Flat-panel maker Innolux Corp (群創) yesterday reported that net profit plunged about 83 percent last quarter to the lowest level in about one-and-a-half years, as the Russia-Ukraine war, China’s COVID-19 restrictions and surging inflation added to already-sluggish panel demand during the off season.
The lockdowns in China’s major manufacturing cities and transportation gridlocks drove up raw material costs, with Innolux’s operating expense ratio climbing to 9.1 percent, from 8.9 percent in the previous quarter and 8 percent in the first quarter of last year, company data showed.
Net profit last quarter plummeted to NT$1.89 billion (US$63.6 million) from NT$11.57 billion a year earlier. On a quarterly basis, net profit contracted 68 percent from NT$5.94 billion.
Photo: Chen Mei-ying, Taipei Times
Earnings per share dropped to NT$0.18 from NT$1.15 a year earlier and NT$0.56 in the prior quarter.
Gross margin fell to 12.3 percent from 25.8 percent in the same period last year and 15.2 percent in the previous quarter.
Innolux said it expects shipments of large flat panels to increase by a high-single-digit percentage this quarter from last quarter, benefiting from stabilizing supply chains, as well as restocking demand ahead of the high season in the second half of the year.
Average selling prices for large panels for TVs and PCs are forecast to slide by a low-teens percentage this quarter from last quarter’s US$372 per square meter, while shipments of small and medium-sized panels for vehicles and other applications are expected to grow by a high-teens percentage, the company said.
Innolux’s board of directors yesterday approved a proposal to cut the company’s paid-in capital by 9.5 percent to NT$95.56 billion and return NT$0.95 per share to shareholders.
The capital reduction plan aims to improve return on equity for shareholders, it said in a statement.
The board also proposed a cash dividend of NT$1.05 per share. That would represent a payout ratio of 19 percent based on the company’s earnings per share of NT$5.53 last year.
Innolux also plans to buy back 50 million shares to reward employees, it said.
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