2006 Sales Up 10.0%, Operating Income Down 19.8%, EPS Down 24.6%
Q4 2006 Sales Up 16.6%, Operating Income Down 78.9%, EPS Down 95.4%
HONG KONG, Feb. 12 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- J.I.C. Technology Company Limited ("J.I.C." or "the Company") (HKEx: 987), a Hong Kong's leading manufacturer of Liquid Crystal Display ("LCD") panels and modules, today announced the unaudited consolidated results of the Company and its subsidiaries (the "Group") for the fourth quarter of 2006 ended 31 December 2006 and the audited consolidated results of the Group for the year ended 31 December 2006 respectively.
The Company recorded the fourth quarter sales of HKD128.2 million, an increase of 16.6% when compared with the same period last year. Fourth quarter gross profit margin dropped from 18.7% last year to 12.3% this year due to lower production yield (arising from production of new products), lower sales mix of high margin LCD modules and competitive pricing pressure on products. Selling, administrative and research and development expenses as a whole increased very marginally over the same quarter last year.
Net sales for the twelve months ended 31 December 2006 was HKD504.3 million, which was approximately 10.0% above the annual sales of 2005. The growth came mainly from lower margin LCD panels while the sales of higher margin LCD modules only increased marginally. A major customer of the Company had reduced LCD module orders significantly during 2006 as a result of its own setback in the consumer market. The Company solicited LCD module sales from new customers during the year to compensate for this loss satisfactorily. However, production of new products would entail lower production yield initially. In 2006, the manufacturing costs increased especially the rise in overheads such as labor costs. These coupled with competitive pricing pressure on products were chiefly responsible for the drop in gross profit margin and net profit margin from 20.2% and 8.2% in year 2005 to 16.8% and 5.6% respectively in year 2006.
Driven by the growth in the business from newly acquired customers, the Company plans for further expansion in manufacturing capacity and the necessary resources to support it, especially in the category of high margin LCD modules for a wide range of applications.
In light of the concentration risk of customers experienced in 2006, the Company shall continue to widen its customer base in 2007 geographically to cover Europe and Korea. The Company is also confident that production yield would improve in new products over time and consequently reflect that in its results.
About J.I.C
J.I.C. specializes in the design, manufacture and marketing of LCD panels and modules. Its products are widely applied to different kinds of portable electronic devices, such as watches, calculators, personal digital assistants, mobile phones, car audio devices and instruments. J.I.C. has already built up a strong customer base producing globally well-known electronic brands, including Nanox, Stanley, Uniden, Vtech, Casio and National Watch. In addition, J.I.C.'s LCD panel production base is located in Shenzhen, PRC. Its LCD panels' production capacity is in the leading league among other counterparts.
J.I.C. is one of the subsidiaries of Nam Tai Electronics, Inc. ("NTE") (NYSE: NTE). NTE is an electronics design and manufacturing services provider to many of the world's leading original equipment manufacturers, including Epson Precision (H.K.) Ltd., Canon Electronic Business Machines (H.K.) Co. Ltd., Optrex Corporation, Seiko Instruments Inc., Sharp Corporation, Sony Corporation, Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications AB, Texas Instruments Incorporated, Toshiba Matsushita Display Technology Co. Ltd.. It manufactures high-quality telecommunications products, palm-sized PCs, personal digital assistants, linguistic products, calculators and components such as LCD modules, wireless communication terminals and their modules, and CMOS sensor modules.
For more information about J.I.C., please visit its website at http://www.jic-group.com . For more information about NTE, please visit its website at http://www.namtai.com .
J.I.C. Technology Company Limited
2006 Q4 and Full Year's Results Key Highlights
(In thousands of HK Dollars, except as otherwise stated)
Quarterly Results 12 months Results
Q4 2006 Q4 2005 YoY 2006 2005 YoY
(%) (%)
Sales (Revenue) 128,218 109,963 16.6 504,297 458,498 10.0
Gross Profit 15,816 20,543 -23.0 84,677 92,773 -8.7
% of sales 12.3% 18.7% 16.8% 20.2%
Operating Income (a) 1,302 6,177 -78.9 32,877 41,014(b) -19.8
% of sales 1.0% 5.6% 6.5% 8.9%
Per share
(HKcent(s)) 0.17 0.81 -78.9 4.31 5.37 -19.8
Net Profit 243 5,239 -95.4 28,193 37,381 -24.6
% of sales 0.2% 4.8% -- 5.6% 8.2% --
Basic earnings per
share (HK cent(s)) 0.03 0.69 -95.4 3.69 4.90 -24.6
Diluted earnings per
share (HK cent(s)) 0.03 0.69 -- 3.69 4.90 --
Weighted average
number of
shares ('000)
Basic 763,535 763,535 -- 763,535 763,535 --
Diluted 763,535 763,535 -- 763,535 763,535 --
Notes:
(a) Operating income represents profit for the period attributable to
equity holders of the Company excluding bank interest income,
interest on bank borrowings and share of loss in an associated
company.
(b) Operating income for the 12 months ended 31 December 2005 included a
one off settlement amounting to HK$1.1 million being compensation
for loss of gross profit from an insurance company regarding a small
fire occurred in November 2004.
For more information, please contact:
Gavin Lam
Tel: +852-2263-1014
Fax: +852-2263-1223
Email: gavinlam@namtai.com.hk
