WASHINGTON: Affected by seasonal factors, PCB maker Compeq Manufacturing expects its revenues to stay flat in the second quarter of 2017 before staging a rebound in the third quarter. First-quarter revenues totaled NT$11.215 billion (US$371.21 million), down 21.1% on quarter but up 19.45% on year. In April, Compaq saw its revenues slide 5.75% on quarter but up 13.48% on year to NT$3.456 billion. Compeq also reported net profits of NT$398 million for the January-March period, down 54.07% sequentially but up 52.02% on year. EPS for the first quarter reached NT$0.33 compared to NT$0.22 of a year ago, while gross margin stood at 13.11%, down 0.92pp sequentially but up 1.48pp on year.
Compeq is expected to begin to ship substrate-like PCB (SLP) products for production of the new iPhone devices in July, which will help ramp up its revenues starting from the month, according to industry sources. The company’s shipments of rigid-flexible PCB products to the iPhone supply chain and the smartphone sector in China will also gain momentum in the second half of the year, added the sources. Compeq’s capex budget for 2017 is expected to reach NT$4-5 billion, mainly for ramping up its capacity for HDI boards and SLP products.
