Memorychip maker Winbond Electronics Corp (華邦電) yesterday reported a net profit of NT$546.3 million (US$18.04 million) for last quarter, the lowest since the fourth quarter of 2020, as weak consumer demand and continued inventory adjustments undercut product prices and shipments.
Net profit plunged from NT$2.67 billion the previous quarter, down nearly 80 percent, and from NT$4.19 billion a year earlier, the Taichung-based company said in a regulatory filing.
Earnings per share fell to NT$0.14 last quarter.
Photo: Grace Hung, Taipei Times
The declining profit came as the company’s revenue decreased 13.19 percent quarterly to NT$19.22 billion last quarter, affected by sluggish end-market demand for PCs, consumer electronics and networking devices.
Gross margin also dropped by 8.08 percentage points sequentially to 37.46 percent last quarter due to lower factory utilization, company data showed.
Last quarter’s results dragged net profit for the full year to NT$12.93 billion, down 4.86 percent from NT$13.59 billion a year earlier. That translated into earnings per share of NT$3.25 last year, down from NT$3.42 the previous year, the filing showed.
Winbond cut production by more than 30 percent at its Central Taiwan Science Park (中部科學園區) complex in Taichung last quarter amid falling global demand, it said in November last year, while postponing equipment installation at its plant in Kaohsiung to the second half of this year.
At the time, the company said that inventory adjustments would likely extend into the middle of this year.
Revenue last year was NT$94.53 billion, slipping 5.06 percent on an annual basis, while its gross margin rose 2.88 percentage points to 45.54 percent, the filing showed.
CAPEX BUDGET
Winbond’s board of directors yesterday also approved a budget of NT$594 million for capital expenditure this year, mainly to expand and upgrade its production, research and development, and information systems, it said in a separate filing.
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