Kinpo Electronics Inc (金寶電子) yesterday said it would continue efforts to sustain earnings growth this year despite US tariffs, after posting a 15 percent annual increase in net profit in the first quarter.
Although the industry in general has turned conservative after US President Donald Trump on April 2 announced “reciprocal” tariffs on most countries, Kinpo’s earnings per share (EPS) grew 15 percent year-on-year to NT$0.35 last quarter, company chairman Rock Hsu (許勝雄) told reporters after its annual shareholders’ meeting in Taipei.
First-quarter revenue rose 27.47 percent year-on-year to NT$41.94 billion (US$1.4 billion), as some customers placed front-loading orders amid tariff uncertainties.
Photo: CNA
“We are striving to boost revenue and aim for solid performance in the second and third quarters,” Hsu said. “We will continue pushing forward in EPS.”
Kinpo would not miss out on artificial intelligence (AI) opportunities and aims to grow revenue from niche applications, such as server-related components, Kinpo president Andrew Chen (陳威昌) said, adding that orders this year were expected to surpass last year’s.
Regarding global deployment, the company’s factories in Thailand and Mexico have ramped up mass production, with Thai operations contributing about 50 percent of total revenue, Chen said.
In Thailand, Kinpo operates factories in Mahachai and Phetchaburi, as well as a new plant about 10 minutes from the Phetchaburi site, he said.
Kinpo last year started construction of a factory in Sao Paulo, Brazil, which began mass production this quarter, as the company expands capacity in addition to an existing factory in Manaus, he said.
The company is also considering expanding production in the Philippines to help customers cope with tariffs, as the country faces relatively low rates, Chen said.
However, Kinpo has no immediate plans to build plants in the Middle East, he said, citing utility and labor concerns.
Although some customers have established data centers in the Middle East and have asked Kinpo to follow suit, discussions are still ongoing, as their views have diverged on certain issues, Chen said.
As tariff rates for countries remain uncertain, the company is preparing for short and long-term impacts, he said, adding that exchange rate fluctuations of the New Taiwan dollar pose another challenge to the company.
Consumer electronics made up 43.07 percent of Kinpo’s total revenue last year, followed by imaging products at 25.08 percent, storage devices at 21.74 percent, and Internet and communications products at 8.98 percent, the company said at its first-quarter earnings conference in March.
Shareholders yesterday approved the company’s proposal to distribute a cash dividend of NT$0.6 per share, the highest since 2008.
Revenue last year grew 2.91 percent year-on-year to NT$164.41 billion, and net profit reached NT$2.39 million, up 189.13 percent from the previous year.
Kinpo also re-elected 11 board members — seven candidates proposed as board members and four independent directors during the meeting.
Hsu announced his retirement, with his son, Jerry Hsu (許介立) — chairman of Cal-Comp Electronics and Communications Co (泰金寶), a Kinpo Group (金寶集團) subsidiary — elected as his successor.
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