HTC's Q3 EPS Hits 7-year Low of NT$4.7

Taipei, Oct. 12, 2012 (CENS)--The business downturn of HTC Corp., a brand vendor of smartphones, obviously has yet to ease, as the company saw its EPS (earnings per share) for the third quarter of this year hit a 7-year nadir of only NT$4.7, and is predicted to report worse business performance in the fourth quarter.

The latest financial statement issued by HTC shows that combined revenue totaled NT$70.177 billion in the third quarter, including NT$21.133 billion achieved in September to represent a persistent decline for the fifth consecutive month, with net profits almost halved to only NT$3.9 billion from a quarter ago.

The company's combined revenue for the first nine months of this year amounted to NT$229 billion, sharply down 37.15% from a year ago, with net profits of NT$15.764 billion, or NT$18.95 per share.

The lackluster operating performance disappoints institutional investors, who originally believed the launch of the newest flagship model, One X+, would drive HTC's revenue growth in September, and hence optimistically forecast the company's third-quarter revenue at around NT$75 billion.

Plus, write-offs of huge losses listed from reinvestment in OnLive, an American company of cloud gaming services, and Beats Electronics, a trendsetter of headphones in the U.S., were also among the reasons behind HTC's worse-than-expected profits in the quarter.

HTC's misfortune seems likely to linger into the fourth quarter. Institutional investors pointed out that only the company's sales in China have shown stable growth among those in the U.S. and European countries so far this year, whereas its major sellers are promoted there at lower unit prices. This means that the company, which is said to have ordered parts and components for production of roughly 7.5 million smartphones that will be shipped in the fourth quarter, will keep losing momentum for revenue growth, and therefore may see its single-quarter revenue hit the level of NT$60 billion in the quarter, with full-year EPS to reach an 8-year low of only NT$23.5.