Catcher Technology Co., a Taiwan-based metal casing supplier, saw its gross margin for the third quarter rise from a quarter earlier on the back of an improving product portfolio and a fall in depreciation costs, while its third-quarter net profit rose by over 190 percent from the previous quarter.
At an investor conference held Monday, Catcher said its net profit for the July-September period surged 195 percent from a quarter earlier, when the company suffered foreign exchange losses and paid taxes on its retained earnings.
In the third quarter, Catcher’s gross margin — the difference between revenue and cost of goods sold — rose 3.3 percentage points from a quarter earlier to 35.4 percent, while its consolidated sales fell 5.1 percent quarter-on-quarter to NT$9.87 billion (US$355 million).
The third-quarter gross margin also rose 6.5 percent from a year earlier, according to Catcher.
In the three-month period, Catcher’s net profit hit NT$2.01 billion, up 195 percent from a quarter earlier, and even up 253.5 percent from a year earlier. The company paid one-time taxes last year of NT$2.3 billion on profits repatriated from overseas.
Earnings per share for the third quarter stood at NT$2.64, compared with NT$0.89 in the second quarter, Catcher said.
Hung Shui-shu (洪水樹), Catcher’s chairman, told investors that his company had entered the non-consumer electronics market by supplying gadgets in automotive electronics, 5G applications, and medical care in a bid to widen its product mix and maintain its gross margin.
Currently, while metal casings used in notebook and tablet computers accounted for about 80 percent of its total sales, Hung said the company has secured orders from international brands to supply devices used in new energy vehicles, which refer to zero or low emission vehicles.
The company’s non-consumer electronics business is expected to help it maintain its gross margin at above 30 percent in the longer term, said Hung.
In the first nine months of this year, Catcher’s net profit totaled NT$5.20 billion, down 28.3 percent from a year earlier with EPS at NT$6.83 compared with NT$9.49 a year earlier.
Meanwhile, Catcher reported that its consolidated sales for October hit NT$2.83 billion, down 10.2 percent from a month earlier and down 54.4 percent from a year earlier.
Catcher said the month-on-month decline largely reflected a raw material shortage, while the year-on-year drop came after the sale of a plant in Taizhou in China’s Jiangsu province last year lowered its shipments this year.
Hung said the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in major challenges for the tech sector, which is experiencing a component supply shortage worldwide and port congestions in logistics, making it hard for the company to manage its production.
According to Catcher, the decline in sales for the third quarter reflected a lack of raw materials for production and China’s power rationing which has affected output.
On the other hand, a booming stay-at-home economy has boosted demand for notebook and tablet computers, Hung said.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel