Aug 9, 2000

Due to different market factors, Taiwan's major monitor manufacturers such as Acer Communications & Multimedia (ACM) Inc. and Lite-On Technology Corp. registered mixed revenue performances last month, industry sources said Tuesday.

Despite the sales of mobile phones reaching only 500,000 due to shortages of key components like flash memories, ACM reported earnings if NT$5.89 billion in July, a new high in recent years. The firm estimates that its revenue will be affected by the continued shortage of key components in August, but this situation will improve considerably in September, paving the way for the delivery of one million mobile phones in October.

In the first seven months, ACM's revenue totaled NT$28.8 billion, a 46.88% increase from the same period a year ago.

ACM expects pretax profits of between NT$1.5 billion and NT$1.7 billion in the first half, translating into earnings per share (EPS) NT$1.4 and NT$1.5. Previously, the firm predicted that its revenue ratio would stand at 32:68 for the first and second halves.

Meanwhile, Lite-On's revenue registered NT$1.76 billion in July, up 118.83% from the same month in 1999. In the first seven months, the firm's revenue totaled NT$14.16 billion, up 43.23% from the same period a year ago.

Executives at Lite-On explained that July sales dropped somewhat due to most PC manufacturers in Europe being on summer break. From August, the firm expects its revenue will resume a normal standard and have the opportunity to exceed the NT$2.3 billion mark that was registered in March, this year's highest figure.