HTC Becomes Most Profitable Listed Company in Taiwan

Taipei, Oct. 14, 2010 (CENS)--Thanks to increasing popularity of smartphones worldwide, the Taiwan-based High Tech Computer Corp. (HTC), a globally leading vendor of smartphones its under own brand, reported an EPS (earnings per share) of NT$30.29 for the first nine months of this year, unseating MediaTek Inc., a world-caliber handset IC designer, as the most profitable listed company on the island in the period.

Launching a couple of hot-selling smartphones, such as Desire, Wildfire, Legend and Incredible, to boost its market shares worldwide, HTC has enjoyed explosive sales growth and remained one of the most successful brands in Taiwan.

The firm raked in NT$27.058 billion in combined revenue for September, sharply up 129.65% from a year earlier to hit an all-time high. This pushed up its combined revenue and net profits for the third quarter of the year to NT$75.849 billion and NT$11.098 billion, or NT$13.61 per share, respectively.

Meanwhile, HTC's aggregate combined revenue and net profits for the first nine months of the year reached NT$174.756 billion and NT$24.735 billion, respectively. Institutional investors indicated that the firm, which has also released several high-profile smartphones for sale in the second half of the year, is expected to challenge full-year EPS of between NT$45 and NT$48.

Coincidentally, Largan Precision Co., Ltd., a listed company engaged in production of camera lenses and with a high share price comparable to HTC's on Taiwan's stock exchange market, has also benefited from contract orders from Apple and HTC, hence witnessing its third-quarter revenue hit a record high of NT$3.479 billion. The firm's EPS is estimated to break the NT$20 mark in the first nine months and reach NT$27 for the entire year.

Young Fast Optoelectronics Co., a large-sized supplier of touch panels for leading handset vendors as HTC and Samsung, is expected by CLSA Securities to rake in EPS of NT$8.24 for the third quarter of this year and NT$28.27 for the full year.

However, MediaTek's EPS projection for the whole year has been adjusted downward by institutional investors to NT$31-35, including an estimate of NT$9 for the third quarter, mainly because the firm is facing increasingly keen price competition in its sector but lacks cutting-edge products for 3C handsets.