Liquid-crystal display and projector manufacturer Qisda Co (佳世達) on Thursday said it expected revenue this quarter to be flat or slightly higher than last quarter amid slowing front-loading demand and tariff uncertainty.
Revenue this quarter could still edge up from the previous quarter aided by seasonal upticks, Qisda chairman Peter Chen (陳其宏) told an online earnings conference.
Revenue last quarter rose 7 percent sequentially to NT$53.46 billion (US$1.78 billion).
Photo: CNA
The outlook for the fourth quarter remains uncertain, depending on the outcome of a Section 232 investigation under the US Trade Expansion Act of 1962, Chen said.
As Taiwanese information and communications technology (ICT) products were previously exempted from US tariffs, any new levies would boost retail prices in the US and dampen US consumer demand, he said.
Overall revenue in the second half would outgrow the first half, but the outlook for its profitability remained unclear, Chen said.
Sharp appreciation of the New Taiwan dollar in May slowed the company’s revenue growth last quarter, Chen said.
Every 1 percent appreciation of the local currency would reduce the company’s revenue by 0.7 percent and cut gross margin by 0.2 percentage points, he said.
The strong local currency has negatively impacted its revenue last quarter, as about 60 to 65 percent of the company’s revenue was denominated in the US dollar, Qisda chief financial officer Jasmin Hung (洪秋金) said.
Net profit fell 46 percent year-on-year last quarter and 26 percent quarter-on-quarter to NT$356 million, compared with NT$806 million a year earlier and NT$594 million in the first quarter.
Gross margin fell to 16.1 percent from 16.7 percent a year earlier and 17.3 percent the previous quarter.
The company booked a NT$50 million non-operating loss for last quarter.
The US market contributed 28 percent to the company’s revenue last quarter, company president Joe Huang (黃漢州) said.
Qisda is considering establishing new plants in North America — mainly Mexico — as well as in Southeast Asia and other regions, Huang said.
Qisda currently runs plants in Taiwan, Vietnam and China, with some assembly lines in California and Mexico.
By sector, IT business revenue rose 4.18 percent year-on-year, accounting for 53 percent of total revenue last quarter, followed by smart business solutions at 17 percent, medical devices at 14 percent, networking and communications at 10 percent, and others at 6 percent, Qisda said.
Qisda expects its IT business to post annual and quarterly growth this quarter, it said.
The networking and communications business is also to report annual and quarterly growth this quarter, as it expanded its business reach to emerging markets, it said.
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