Industrial computer maker Flytech Technology Co (飛捷科技) yesterday said it would continue to enhance its gross margin amid the impacts of the New Taiwan dollar’s appreciation and US tariffs.
The company would continue to boost operational resilience through artificial intelligence (AI) integration, in-house module development and high value-added products, Flytech chairman Lam Tai-seng (林大成) told reporters after its annual shareholders’ meeting in Taipei.
Flytech’s products mainly comprise smart point-of-sale systems, touch-panel PCs, mobile terminals, self-service kiosks, embedded computers and unified endpoint management software, the company’s Web site showed.
Photo: Fang Wei-chieh, Taipei Times
As Flytech exports products under free-on-board terms, the higher US tariffs would be borne by clients, who have not asked the company to absorb the costs, Lam said.
However, the higher tariffs could still affect some product prices and plans, he said.
Regarding the sharp appreciation of the NT dollar against the US currency, Lam said it is estimated to cut the company’s gross margin by 4.5 to 5 percentage points, given that about 40 percent of its products are priced in US dollars.
The exchange rate fluctuations are expected to affect the company’s sales performance, but it has made significant efforts in product design to help maintain its gross margin, he said.
First-quarter gross margin stood at 44.62 percent, up from 42.99 percent a year earlier, while revenue grew 34.31 percent year-on-year to NT$1.36 billion (US$45.4 million), company data showed.
The main driver of revenue growth was its customized services, Lam said, adding that the business outlook in the second half of the year would be better than the first half due to stable demand.
Asked about the company’s plans to build new plants, Lam said it would depend on how tariff policies develop.
Flytech has no plans to set up a facility in the US due to high costs and an incomplete supply chain, he said.
However, the company is assessing the possibility of setting up factories in Vietnam or Thailand as it aims to diversify risks and meet demand from regional clients, he added.
North and South America accounted for 52 percent of Flytech’s revenue last year, followed by 38 percent from Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and 10 percent from the Asia-Pacific region.
Shareholders yesterday approved the company’s proposal to distribute a cash dividend of NT$6 per share, the highest since 2017.
Revenue last year grew 32.04 percent year-on-year to NT$4.61 billion, and net profit reached NT$958.76 million, up 102.82 percent year-on-year. Earnings per share were NT$6.93.
WEAKER ACTIVITY: The sharpest deterioration was seen in the electronics and optical components sector, with the production index falling 13.2 points to 44.5 Taiwan’s manufacturing sector last month contracted for a second consecutive month, with the purchasing managers’ index (PMI) slipping to 48, reflecting ongoing caution over trade uncertainties, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. The decline reflects growing caution among companies amid uncertainty surrounding US tariffs, semiconductor duties and automotive import levies, and it is also likely linked to fading front-loading activity, CIER president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) said. “Some clients have started shifting orders to Southeast Asian countries where tariff regimes are already clear,” Lien told a news conference. Firms across the supply chain are also lowering stock levels to mitigate
IN THE AIR: While most companies said they were committed to North American operations, some added that production and costs would depend on the outcome of a US trade probe Leading local contract electronics makers Wistron Corp (緯創), Quanta Computer Inc (廣達), Inventec Corp (英業達) and Compal Electronics Inc (仁寶) are to maintain their North American expansion plans, despite Washington’s 20 percent tariff on Taiwanese goods. Wistron said it has long maintained a presence in the US, while distributing production across Taiwan, North America, Southeast Asia and Europe. The company is in talks with customers to align capacity with their site preferences, a company official told the Taipei Times by telephone on Friday. The company is still in talks with clients over who would bear the tariff costs, with the outcome pending further
NEGOTIATIONS: Semiconductors play an outsized role in Taiwan’s industrial and economic development and are a major driver of the Taiwan-US trade imbalance With US President Donald Trump threatening to impose tariffs on semiconductors, Taiwan is expected to face a significant challenge, as information and communications technology (ICT) products account for more than 70 percent of its exports to the US, Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) said on Friday. Compared with other countries, semiconductors play a disproportionately large role in Taiwan’s industrial and economic development, Lien said. As the sixth-largest contributor to the US trade deficit, Taiwan recorded a US$73.9 billion trade surplus with the US last year — up from US$47.8 billion in 2023 — driven by strong
RESHAPING COMMERCE: Major industrialized economies accepted 15 percent duties on their products, while charges on items from Mexico, Canada and China are even bigger US President Donald Trump has unveiled a slew of new tariffs that boosted the average US rate on goods from across the world, forging ahead with his turbulent effort to reshape international commerce. The baseline rates for many trading partners remain unchanged at 10 percent from the duties Trump imposed in April, easing the worst fears of investors after the president had previously said they could double. Yet his move to raise tariffs on some Canadian goods to 35 percent threatens to inject fresh tensions into an already strained relationship, while nations such as Switzerland and New Zealand also saw increased
RSS