After posting record profits last year, Materials Analysis Technology Inc (MA-tek, 閎康) yesterday said that it expects robust demand from Japan to fuel its revenue growth this year, benefiting from a nascent revival of the Japanese market.
Net profit last year rose 9.38 percent to NT$686 million (US$21.82 million) from 2022’s NT$627 million, the semiconductor material analysis company said in a statement. That translated into earnings per share of NT$10.81 from NT$10.12 in the prior year.
The board of directors approved a proposal to distribute cash dividends of NT$9 per share this year, representing a payout ratio of 83 percent and up from NT$8 last year.
Photo courtesy of Materials Analysis Technology
MA-tek said it expects to benefit from fast-growing demand in Japan, as its government strives to revive its semiconductor industry’s past glory.
Growth should be robust this quarter, as orders at its Kumamoto laboratory, which opened in September last year, materialize into revenue gains, it said.
“Since the inception of the Kumamoto lab, the company has received a considerable number of orders. Thus, the company expects the lab to contribute significantly to revenue in the first quarter. To satisfy customers’ demand, the company will continue boosting the lab’s capacity,” it said.
MA-tek has said that it is considering setting up a second laboratory in Kumamoto to catch up with growing demand, mainly for automotive chips. The company currently operates two labs in Japan, one in Kumamoto and one in Nagoya, offering material and chip reliability analysis services.
That matches its major client’s expansion in Japan. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) plans to start construction of a second fab in Kumamoto in the fourth quarter, following the launch of its first fab in the prefecture last month.
The Japanese market accounted for about 8 percent of MA-tek’s revenue during the first half of last year, company data showed. Taiwan was its biggest revenue source, accounting for 48 percent, followed by China with 44 percent.
MA-tek yesterday reported that January-February revenue rose 5.83 percent year-on-year to NT$774.06 million, aided by a pickup in the global semiconductor industry.
CHIP WAR: Tariffs on Taiwanese chips would prompt companies to move their factories, but not necessarily to the US, unleashing a ‘global cross-sector tariff war’ US President Donald Trump would “shoot himself in the foot” if he follows through on his recent pledge to impose higher tariffs on Taiwanese and other foreign semiconductors entering the US, analysts said. Trump’s plans to raise tariffs on chips manufactured in Taiwan to as high as 100 percent would backfire, macroeconomist Henry Wu (吳嘉隆) said. He would “shoot himself in the foot,” Wu said on Saturday, as such economic measures would lead Taiwanese chip suppliers to pass on additional costs to their US clients and consumers, and ultimately cause another wave of inflation. Trump has claimed that Taiwan took up to
SUPPORT: The government said it would help firms deal with supply disruptions, after Trump signed orders imposing tariffs of 25 percent on imports from Canada and Mexico The government pledged to help companies with operations in Mexico, such as iPhone assembler Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), shift production lines and investment if needed to deal with higher US tariffs. The Ministry of Economic Affairs yesterday announced measures to help local firms cope with the US tariff increases on Canada, Mexico, China and other potential areas. The ministry said that it would establish an investment and trade service center in the US to help Taiwanese firms assess the investment environment in different US states, plan supply chain relocation strategies and
WASHINGTON POLICY: Tariffs of 10 percent or more and other new costs are tipped to hit shipments of small parcels, cutting export growth by 1.3 percentage points The decision by US President Donald Trump to ban Chinese companies from using a US tariff loophole would hit tens of billions of dollars of trade and reduce China’s economic growth this year, according to new estimates by economists at Nomura Holdings Inc. According to Nomura’s estimates, last year companies such as Shein (希音) and PDD Holdings Inc’s (拼多多控股) Temu shipped US$46 billion of small parcels to the US to take advantage of the rule that allows items with a declared value under US$800 to enter the US tariff-free. Tariffs of 10 percent or more and other new costs would slash such
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) is reportedly making another pass at Nissan Motor Co, as the Japanese automaker's tie-up with Honda Motor Co falls apart. Nissan shares rose as much as 6 percent after Taiwan’s Central News Agency reported that Hon Hai chairman Young Liu (劉揚偉) instructed former Nissan executive Jun Seki to connect with French carmaker Renault SA, which holds about 36 percent of Nissan’s stock. Hon Hai, the Taiwanese iPhone-maker also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), was exploring an investment or buyout of Nissan last year, but backed off in December after the Japanese carmaker penned a deal