HIWIN second-quarter net profit surges 78.3 percent
2017/08/11
From:Taipei Times By Kuo Chia-erh/Staff reporter
Machinery maker HIWIN Technologies Co (上銀科技) yesterday said net profit for the second quarter surged 78.3 percent to NT$708 million (US$23.4 million), from NT$397 million a year earlier, thanks to a better product portfolio.
A foreign exchange gain of NT$131 million from appreciation of the euro and the yuan against the New Taiwan dollar also helped buoy last quarter’s earnings, HIWIN said in a statement.
In the April-to-June quarter, earnings per share were NT$2.58, compared with NT$1.44 a year earlier, company data showed.
Sales in the second quarter rose 17.3 percent year-on-year from NT$4.4 billion to NT$5.1 billion, stimulated by growing demand for major products, the company said, adding that linear guideways and ball screws last quarter remained the two biggest sources of revenue, contributing 57 percent and 23 percent of total sales respectively.
At an earnings conference yesterday, chairman Eric Chuo (卓永財) said the company plans to expand into overseas markets to maintain long-term growth momentum.
The company is considering acquiring several Japanese machinery makers or building a new plant in Kobe, Japan, in the next two years, aiming to further cement its position in the country.
In the first half of this year, HIWIN began manufacturing machinery components for Japan’s leading automakers, including Toyota Motor Corp and Nissan Motor Co Ltd, the firm said.
Subsidiary HIWIN Mikrosystem Co (大銀微系統) plans to make its debut on the Emerging Stock Market early next year, Chuo said.
“The unit is capable of providing complete ‘smart’ machinery solutions for clients worldwide,” he said.
HIWIN Mikrosystem, headquartered in Taichung and focused on linear motion systems, is expected to generate revenue of more than NT$3.5 billion this year, compared with NT$2.1 billion last year, Chuo said, citing better-than-expected client demand.
HIWIN Mikrosystem has sales channels and innovation centers in more than 10 nations, its Web site said.
Metal cutting machine tool unit Luren Precision Co (陸聯精密) will likely break even by the end of the year, Chuo said.
“We hope to transform Luren into a medium-sized machine tool company through collaboration with UK-based Matrix Machine Tool Ltd this year,” Chuo said.
HIWIN shares yesterday rose 1.65 percent to close at NT$246.5 in Taipei trading before the earnings conference.
The stock has risen more than 60 percent since the beginning of the year, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed.
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