Taiwan's Connector Makers to See Comeback in Profit Performance in Q2, 2008

Taipei, July 21, 2008 (CENS)--After seeing their profits eroded by foreign exchange losses in the first quarter of the year, Taiwan's suppliers of connector components are expected to enjoy a significant turnaround in their profit performance in the second quarter, according to industry sources.

Hopefully, Taiwan's connector suppliers will enjoy promising prospects in the following quarters of the year. Despite a seasonal recession continuing in the second quarter, some makers are even likely to see their EPS (earning per share) exceed NT$1 in the quarter, including Cheng Uei Precision Industry Co., P-two Industries Inc., I-Sheng Electric Wire & Cable Co., Ltd., Cvilux Corp. and Solteam Electronics Co., Ltd.

Cheng Uei, a leading connector supplier on the island, posted a 5% revenue growth in the second quarter, and scored net profits of NT$900 million for the first half of this year, including NT$4.5-4.6 million or more NT$2.2 per share to be realized in the second quarter.

P-two, one of the fastest growing Taiwanese connector suppliers in the second quarter was P-two, originally posted EPS of nearly NT$1 in the first quarter, but the EPS figure dropped to only NT$0.56 after a forex loss of NT$42.93 million was taken into account.

However, after writing off its foreign exchange losses, the company saw its second-quarter revenue increase by 24.27% from the first quarter, and is expected to post a gross profit rate of 30% and pretax profit of more than NT$1 in the second quarter. Moreover, as price drops in display panels have driven suppliers to adopt Taiwan-made connectors to keep their production costs, the company has therefore boosted its shares of the global market for LCVS FCC (low-voltage differential-signal interface flexible flat cable). The product line has been certificated by the company's clients and will infuse great momentum into its annual revenue this year.

In the meantime, I-Sheng is estimated to score net profits of NT$150 million in the second quarter, up 27% from a quarter earlier, and aggregate EPS of NT$2.1 for the first half of this year, including over NT$1.2 to be posted in the quarter.

Focusing sales of connectors used in household appliances and machine tools, Solteam has landed big orders from U.S.'s clients and thus netted pretax profits of over NT$50 million, or NT$1.5 per share, hitting a historical high.