MediaTek Inc (聯發科), the world’s biggest supplier of 5G smartphone chips, yesterday posted record net profit for last quarter and forecast 40 percent annual revenue growth this year, benefiting from robust demand for its flagship 5G smartphones chips and other chips.
The Hsinchu-based firm said that growth momentum would this year accelerate, thanks to healthy end-market demand and an increase in new IC design projects.
Last year, revenue grew 30.8 percent to NT$322.15 billion (US$11.53 billion), MediaTek said, adding that it is forecasting an equally high growth rate this year.
Photo: CNA
“Amid industry-wide supply constraints, we expect our capacity to support a year-on-year revenue growth target of more than 40 percent,” MediaTek chief executive officer Rick Tsai (蔡力行) told a teleconference yesterday.
“The growth is led by [higher] 5G penetration,” Tsai said, adding that demand for the firm’s 5G smartphone chips is rising.
All Android phone manufacturers are designing their new phones with MediaTek chips, he said.
The company expects global 5G smartphone shipments to reach about 500 million units, including 300 million from China.
Inventory at its customers had fallen to much lower levels than usual at this time of the year, Tsai said.
MediaTek’s gross margin jumped to 44.9 percent last quarter, from 44.5 percent a quarter earlier and 43.1 percent a year earlier, the firm said.
MediaTek raised its full-year gross margin target to 44 to 46 percent, up from 43 to 44 percent estimated in January.
Net profit surged to NT$25.57 billion in the first quarter, compared with NT$5.8 billion in the same period last year.
On a quarterly basis, net profit jumped 72.3 percent from NT$15.75 billion.
Earnings per share rose to NT$16.21 last quarter, compared with NT$3.64 a year earlier and NT$9.35 in the previous quarter.
The company’s board of directors yesterday approved raising the dividend payout ratio to 80 to 85 percent, up from 60 to 70 percent, with the policy to take effect next year.
MediaTek has budgeted NT$100 billion over the next four years for special cash dividends, it said, aiming to pay out special annual cash dividends of NT$16 per share.
This year, MediaTek plans to pay a special cash dividend of NT$37 per share, together with the regular cash dividend of NT$21 based on last year’s earnings per share of NT$27.52.
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