Passive components maker Yageo Corp (國巨) on Thursday reported first-quarter net profit of NT$5.02 billion (US$178.6 million), up 35.5 percent quarter-on-quarter and 113.8 percent year-on-year.
Earnings per share were NT$10.17, the highest in 10 quarters, the company said in a regulatory filing.
First-quarter revenue was NT$23.75 billion, up 6.9 percent quarter-on-quarter and 136.9 percent year-on-year, the company said, adding that sales in the first three months this year were the highest first-quarter sales in the company’s history.
Photo: Chang Hui-wen, Taipei Times
Yageo produces chip resistors, inductors and multilayer ceramic capacitors (MLCCs), among other products.
The company attributed the increases to the acquisition of US-based Kemet Corp, and improved production and factory utilization in the Greater China region, as well as strong demand from customers.
Gross margin was 39.1 percent, an increase of 1.1 percentage points from the previous quarter, but a decrease of 1.2 percentage points from a year earlier, the company said.
Operating margin rose 2.6 percentage points quarterly, but declined 0.1 percentage points annually, it said.
“After Yageo merged with Kemet Corp and Pulse Electronics Corp, the company’s operations have undergone structural changes, and product portfolios and end-market applications have become superior to its competitors,” Yageo said in the filing.
“In the past, Yageo mainly produced commodity-related products,” the company said. “After recent global acquisitions and internal optimization of product mix, the company’s operations have greater exposure to high-end, specialty and customized products, which can reduce the potential effect of cyclical fluctuations.”
Yageo would continue to focus on high-end automotive, industrial, medical, aerospace, 5G and Internet of Things segments, as it aims to deliver more stable revenue and profit growth, the company said.
For this quarter, the manufacturer said that it aims to further increase the factory utilization rate in the region to meet robust customer demand.
Yageo’s MLCC utilization rate was near 90 percent last quarter, Capital Investment Management Corp (群益投顧) said in a note on Friday, adding that the figure might rise further.
The analyst forecasts Yageo’s chip resistor utilization rate to reach up to 90 percent this quarter, up from 80 percent last quarter.
The manufacturer’s tantalum capacitor utilization has been at full capacity since the second quarter of last year, due to increased demand for latest-generation graphics processing units and game consoles, which utilize more tantalum capacitors than previous generations, Capital said.
As the global COVID-19 pandemic has not eased and uncertainty over trade frictions remains, Yageo said it would stay vigilant amid the challenging environment.
It is cautiously optimistic about its business outlook, Yageo said.
The company announced a plan to distribute a cash dividend of NT$10 per share, based on last year’s earnings per share of NT$27.58.
The dividend is to have a payout ratio of about 36 percent.
The firm is planning to open a branch office in Kaohsiung’s Daliao District (大寮) and has appointed Yageo vice president C.T. Lee (李俊德) to head the branch, it said.
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