Quanta netted pretax profit of NT$10.6 B. Jan.-Sept. 2003

Taipei, Nov. 3, 2003 (CENS)--Quanta Computer Inc., the world's largest notebook personal computer (PC) manufacturer, saw its pretax profit break the NT$10 billion mark to hit NT$10.6 billion (US$311.7 million at US$1 = NT$34) in the first three quarters of this year, according to the company's financial statement released recently.

During the period the company's accumulated revenue soar past the NT$200 billion (US$5.88 billion) level to hit NT$202.2 billion (US$5.95 billion), shooting up 107% from the corresponding period of last year due to strong global demand for notebook PCs. But the firm's after-tax profits grew only 22% to NT$9.85 billion (US$290 million) in the same period. Insiders attributed the comparatively lower profit growth to the shrinking profit margin, which stood at only 6.4%, down from 9% of a year earlier.

In the third quarter, Quata's revenue totaled NT$81.6 billion (US$2.4 billion), up 25% from the second and a whopping growth of 174% from the same quarter of 2002. During the quarter, Quata delivered 2.65 million notebook PCs and 1.48 million cell phones, up 20% and 42%, respectively, from the previous quarter.

In the third quarter, the firm's pretax and after-tax earnings stood at NT$3.93 billion (US$115.7 million) and NT$3.79 billion (US$111.3 million), respectively. And the after-tax earnings per share (EPS) reached NT$1.38 (US$0.04), up 20% from the second quarter.

Market observers estimated that Quanta's shipment of notebook PCs in 2003 would total 9.8 million units, with the delivery for the fourth quarter estimated at three million units.

In the first nine months, Quanta shipped a total of 6.5 million notebook PCs, 3.4 million cell phones, and 300,000 servers. In addition, the company started to ship a small volume of 23-inch and 26-inch LCD TV sets in the third quarter.

The company's non-operating income for the third quarter was NT$580 million (US$17.1 million), but the firm currency exchange loss of NT$290 million (US$8.53 million) during the quarter.

In 2004 Quanta is predicted to ship a total of 14-15 million notebook PCs, accounting for one-third of the global market.

Besides Quanta, Inventec Corp., another leading notebook PC maker in Taiwan, also disclosed its financial statement recently. The company scored revenue of NT$57.48 billion (US$1.69 billion) in the first nine months of the year, with after-tax EPS of NT$1.51 (US$0.044).