Electronic components supplier Lite-On Technology Corp (光寶科技) yesterday reported record profit for the previous quarter, and said it expects growth to extend into this quarter.
Net profit soared 38 percent to NT$4.24 billion (US$132.06 million), compared with NT$3.08 billion in the third quarter last year. On a quarterly basis, net profit expanded 7 percent from NT$3.96 billion.
Earnings per share expanded to NT$1.86, from NT$1.33 per share a year earlier and NT$1.74 in the second quarter.
Photo: CNA
Revenue should continue to grow this quarter after hitting its highest mark in three years at NT$46.17 billion last quarter, Lite-On president Anson Chiu (邱森彬) told an online investors’ conference.
Growth is to be driven by robust demand for higher-margin power management units used in cloud-based data centers, automotive electronics and 5G small-cell stations, Chiu said.
The company’s power management unit for cloud-based data centers is expected to experience its best growth, at about 30 percent annually this quarter, thanks to a broader customer base and market share gains, Chiu said.
Lite-On has gradually expanded its market share to more than 30 percent of the world’s server power supply market this year, he said, adding that the company expects 40 percent next year.
Lite-On has made strides in the electric vehicle (EV) charger market, Chiu said.
The company is scheduled to ship new 3,000-watt charger piles for customers in the US and Europe this quarter, tapping into the high-end commercial vehicle fleet market, he said.
To cope with strong demand for EV chargers and new-generation power supply units used in data centers, Lite-On plans to spend NT$2 billion on new manufacturing capacity at a leased facility in Dallas, Texas, Chiu said.
The expanded manufacturing capacity should contribute NT$10 billion in revenue in 2025, after starting operations in the second quarter of next year, he said.
Lite-On expects automotive electronics to contribute about 10 percent to its revenue next year, up from about 7 percent this year.
With new overseas capacity expansions, Lite-On expects capital spending next year to exceed this year’s budget of NT$5 billion to NT$6 billion.
The company plans to boost capacity in its US and Mexico factories, Chiu said, adding that the capital budget would also be invested on manufacturing equipment automation.
The US dollar was trading at NT$29.7 at 10am today on the Taipei Foreign Exchange, as the New Taiwan dollar gained NT$1.364 from the previous close last week. The NT dollar continued to rise today, after surging 3.07 percent on Friday. After opening at NT$30.91, the NT dollar gained more than NT$1 in just 15 minutes, briefly passing the NT$30 mark. Before the US Department of the Treasury's semi-annual currency report came out, expectations that the NT dollar would keep rising were already building. The NT dollar on Friday closed at NT$31.064, up by NT$0.953 — a 3.07 percent single-day gain. Today,
‘SHORT TERM’: The local currency would likely remain strong in the near term, driven by anticipated US trade pressure, capital inflows and expectations of a US Fed rate cut The US dollar is expected to fall below NT$30 in the near term, as traders anticipate increased pressure from Washington for Taiwan to allow the New Taiwan dollar to appreciate, Cathay United Bank (國泰世華銀行) chief economist Lin Chi-chao (林啟超) said. Following a sharp drop in the greenback against the NT dollar on Friday, Lin told the Central News Agency that the local currency is likely to remain strong in the short term, driven in part by market psychology surrounding anticipated US policy pressure. On Friday, the US dollar fell NT$0.953, or 3.07 percent, closing at NT$31.064 — its lowest level since Jan.
The New Taiwan dollar and Taiwanese stocks surged on signs that trade tensions between the world’s top two economies might start easing and as US tech earnings boosted the outlook of the nation’s semiconductor exports. The NT dollar strengthened as much as 3.8 percent versus the US dollar to 30.815, the biggest intraday gain since January 2011, closing at NT$31.064. The benchmark TAIEX jumped 2.73 percent to outperform the region’s equity gauges. Outlook for global trade improved after China said it is assessing possible trade talks with the US, providing a boost for the nation’s currency and shares. As the NT dollar
The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) yesterday met with some of the nation’s largest insurance companies as a skyrocketing New Taiwan dollar piles pressure on their hundreds of billions of dollars in US bond investments. The commission has asked some life insurance firms, among the biggest Asian holders of US debt, to discuss how the rapidly strengthening NT dollar has impacted their operations, people familiar with the matter said. The meeting took place as the NT dollar jumped as much as 5 percent yesterday, its biggest intraday gain in more than three decades. The local currency surged as exporters rushed to
RSS