PC vendor Acer Inc (宏碁) yesterday said it has swung back into profitability, with NT$515.17 million (US$16.8 million) in profit last quarter from a loss of NT$832 million in the previous quarter as a result of significant improvements in non-operating gains.
Acer booked NT$703.83 million in non-operating profit last quarter, reversing a non-operating loss of NT$1.48 billion in the fourth quarter last fiscal year due to volatility in foreign exchange rates, the company said in a statement.
Net profit annually plunged about 77 percent from NT$2.23 billion, it said.
Photo: Fang Wei-chieh, Taipei Times
Earnings per share dropped to NT$0.17, from NT$0.74 a year earlier. That was an improvement from losses of NT$0.27 per share in the fourth quarter of last year.
Gross margin dropped to 10.22 percent, from 10.58 percent in the previous quarter and 11.29 percent a year earlier, while operating margin weakened to 0.46 percent, down from 1.7 percent three months earlier and 3.7 percent a year earlier, the company said.
The company’s inventory, a closely monitored indicator by investors, reduced to NT$39.46 billion, from NT$42.21 billion at the end of last year, Acer said.
“Acer expects its business to have reached a low point in the first quarter, and the computer and displays business will begin to regain business momentum,” the statement said.
The global PC market plummeted 33 percent year-on-year to 54 million units during the first three months of this year, representing the fourth consecutive quarter of double-digit annual declines, market researcher Canalys said last month.
The research house expected PC demand to pick up in the second half of this year and gather further momentum next year.
Separately, Acer’s board of directors yesterday appointed Victor Chien (簡慧祥), chairman of subsidiary AOpen Inc (建碁), as corporate president.
Chien has worked at the company for more than 20 years, and he assumed the new role yesterday, Acer said.
Additionally, Acer cochief operating officer Tiffany Huang (黃資婷) said she would retire, and her corporate duties are to be assumed by Chien, the company said.
Huang’s role as president of China operations is to assumed by pan-Asia Pacific regional operations president Andrew Hou (侯知遠), the company said.
To ensure a smooth handover, Huang is become a corporate adviser to help Acer through the period of transition.
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