Golden Bridge Electech saw after-tax EPS of NT$0.54 in first half

Taipei, July 16, 2003 (CENS)--Golden Bridge Electech Inc. said yesterday that its pretax profits totaled NT$38.77 million in the first half of the year, down 53.2% from the same period of 2002.

The firm's after-tax profits also declined 53.3% to NT$69.08 million, for earnings per share (EPS) of NT$0.54.

A major traditional connector and cable maker, Golden Bridge started the development of wireless optoelectronics and wireless antennas business in 2002. The move was made to offer a full signal transmission service and increase revenue at the same time, Hsieh Chung-jen, company president, said.

The firm thought that its newly developed products would be warmly welcomed in the market in the first half but sales of wireless AV(audio/video) products were not as good as expected due to the outbreak of the U.S.-Iraq war and the SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) epidemic.

Golden Bridge suffered pretax profit declines in the first half, compared with the same period of 2002, Hsieh said.

Regarding the second half, Hsieh said that the connector and cable industry has entered its peak season. With the introduction of several new products, Golden Bridge is optimistic that its operations will become smooth in the second half.