Largan Precision Co (大立光), a major camera lens supplier for Apple Inc’s iPhones, yesterday posted a sequential decline of 16.5 percent in net profit for last quarter due to massive foreign exchange losses, even though operating income more than doubled over the period.
Net profit dipped to NT$4.97 billion (US$159.8 million) compared with NT$5.95 billion in the third quarter, the company said, and it booked NT$2.85 billion in foreign exchange losses, it added.
On an annual basis, net profit jumped 23.63 percent from NT$4.02 billion. Operating income rose to NT$7.91 billion from NT$3.88 billion a quarter earlier and NT$6.77 billion the prior year.
Photo: David Chang, epa/efe
Earnings per share were NT$37.25 last quarter, compared with NT$44.6 the previous quarter and NT$30.1 a year earlier, the company said.
A bright spot is gross margin, which bounced back to 52.8 percent last quarter from 42.55 percent in the prior quarter, the first pickup in a year, attributable to improved yield rates and favorable production portfolios.
The Gross margin had dropped below 50 percent for the first time in the company’s history during the January-March period of last year. Its recovery — although still lower than 55.87 percent in the fourth quarter of 2022 — was due to Largan’s breakthrough in making advanced tetraprism periscope lenses, which were first used in iPhone 15 Pro Max last year.
This year, more smartphone vendors are to adopt tetraprism periscope lenses, Largan chief executive officer Adam Lin (林恩平) told an online investors’ conference yesterday.
The company received some orders for better-priced camera lenses last quarter, with some of them extending into this quarter, Lin said.
Looking forward, Lin said Largan’s revenue this quarter would be lower than the previous
quarter as the electronics industry enters its traditional slow season. Lower factory utilization would also weigh on the company’s gross margin this quarter, he said.
Overall, the slowdown “is no different from previous ones,” Lin said. “Demand looks okay.”
Customers’ inventories are still at healthy levels, he said.
There are early positive signs in the market, Lin said, noting that some smartphone vendors are gaining confidence about high-end smartphone demand this year. Largan has landed some design-in projects for camera lens upgrades, he said.
When asked about the uptake of advanced periscope lenses, Lin said more customers plan to adopt them this year.
Last year as a whole, Largan’s net profit fell 20.87 percent to NT$17.9 billion, compared with NT$22.62 billion in 2022. Earnings per share slid to NT$134.18 from NT$169.47 and gross margin deteriorated to 48.71 percent from 54.7 percent.
Shipments of 10-megapixel lenses made up the bulk of the company’s shipments last year, accounting for between 50 and 60 percent, while those with more than 20 megapixels made up between 10 and 20 percent, the company said.
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