Unitech to tap production of FPCBs

Taipei, Feb. 19, 2004 (CENS)--To meet the demand of the world's leading manufacturers of cell phones, Unitech Printed Circuit Board Corp., Taiwan's leading manufacturer of flexible printed circuit boards (FPCBs), will add rigid-flexible PCBs to its product lines.

To this end, the company plans to join the operations of a FPCB maker by purchasing its stake. Fulltech Fiber Glass Corp., a subsidiary of Unitech, is also evaluating the feasibility of rolling out glass for TFT-LCD (thin film transistor-liquid crystal display) panels.

Unitech said it has made earnings since September last year because of the increased orders placed by cell-phone manufacturers. Thanks to the influx of orders, the company turned profitable last year, with earnings per share reaching NT$0.7 (US$0.02 at US$1:NT$33.1).

As market demand for cell phones is still rising, Unitech posted revenue of NT$820 million in January, hitting a historic high record. An institutional investor estimated Unitech would see EPS reach between NT$2 (US$0.06) and NT$3 (US$0.09) this year.

Although the company saw additional expenditure of NT$14 million (US$42,000) on overtime pay and NT$40 million (US$1.2 million) in foreign exchange losses, it recorded NT$100 million (US$3.02 million) in pretax earnings, or NT$0.28 (US$0.008) in EPS, in January.

Unitech said it would see business turnaround in some subsidiaries this year. For instance, Fulltech, specializing in the production of fiberglass and glass filament, posted earnings of NT$10 million (US$302,100) in January, compared with losses made last year. Fulltech estimated it would see revenues climb to NT$1.3 billion (US$39.27 million) this year from NT$1 billion (US$30.21 million) registered last year.

Fulltech said the fast-growing downstream fiberglass fabric sector has led to booming demand for glass filament. At present, the company has seen full production capacity, with no inventories. Because of the booming demand, the unit price of glass filament has been rising since the end of last year. The company predicted price for glass filament will rise again in March, which will help it generate more revenues and profits.