Advanced Int'l Multitech to mete out NT$4.5 per share as 2002 dividend

Taipei, March 28, 2003 (CENS)--Advanced International Multitech Co., Ltd. Will distribute the highest dividend per share of NT$4.5 for 2002 operation among three listed local manufacturers of golf heads.

The other two companies are Fu Sheng Industrial Co., Ltd. And O-Ta Precision Industry Co., Ltd. Fu Sheng is listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange and Advanced International Multitech and O-Ta Precision are listed on the local over-the-counter bourse.

Advanced International Multitech's dividend per share for last year consists of NT$4.0 in cash and NT$0.5 in stock. The company will hold its shareholder meeting for this year on June 16. Last year, the company brought in after-tax profit of NT$442 million, a year-on-year rise of 81% and equivalent to net (after-tax) earnings per share (EPS) of NT$6.62.

In comparison, Fu Sheng and O-Ta plan to deal out a dividend per share of NT$3.6 (NT$3.0 in cash and NT$0.6 in stock) and that of NT$4.0 (NT$3.0 in cash and N$1.0 in stock), respectively.

Thanks to increasing OEM (original equipment manufacturing) orders from Taylor Made, a large international supplier of golf playing equipment, Advanced International Multitech reaped pretax profit of NT$186 million in the first two months of this year, equivalent to EPS of NT$2.79.

The company expects its revenue for this month to exceed NT$420 million, likely to surpass the historically highest monthly revenue of NT$455 million recorded in January this year. The revenue for this quarter is estimated to reach NT$1.25 billion, higher than the target of NT$1.17 billion.

Since Advanced International Multitech has recently secured OEM orders from two new clients, Nike and another, the company has to expand its production capacity to meet the additional order volume. To fund the expansion, the company considers issuing NT$200-300 million worth of domestic convertible bonds in the second half of this year.