Acer highest profit in almost three years

Fourth-quarter net income climbed 25 percent to NT$3.5 billion (US$109 million), from NT$2.8 billion a year earlier, the Taipei-based company said in a statement Tuesday. Acer was expected to post profit of NT$3.8 billion according to the median of 11 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

Acer continued to outpace shipment growth by Dell and larger rival Hewlett-Packard Co. by offering consumers low-cost Aspire One netbooks and TimeLine notebooks with longer battery life. Laptop shipments will climb up to 40 percent this year and Acer will expand server sales as it seeks revenue growth of 15 percent, President Gianfranco Lanci said in a Feb. 5 interview.

“They did a very good job to balance market share gains without giving up profit growth,” said Vincent Chen, who rates the stock “buy” at Yuanta Financial Holding Co. in Hong Kong.

Revenue climbed 25 percent to NT$168 billion, it said. Operating profit, which measures sales less operating costs, advanced 25 percent to a record NT$4.96 billion, Acer said in the statement. Net income was the highest since it reported a figure of NT$5.7 billion for the first quarter of 2007.

The stock added 1.5 percent to close at NT$86 before the announcement. Its 11 percent decline this year is in line with the 10 percent drop in the benchmark Taiex index.

Acer's global PC shipments climbed 28 percent during the period, giving it 13.4 percent of the global market, behind Hewlett-Packard's 21 percent, and outpacing a 15.2 percent gain for the overall market, researcher IDC said Jan. 13. Acer aims to take the top spot in laptop shipments this year, and be No. 1 overall by 2013, Chairman J.T. Wang said on Jan. 22.

Hewlett-Packard, which derived 32 percent of revenue from computers and handsets in the fiscal fourth quarter, posted a 14 percent increase in profit for the three months to Oct. 31 after sales dropped 8.4 percent. Revenue in its personal systems group dropped 12 percent to $9.9 billion, according to a company statement.

Dell had a 54 percent slump in profit for the October quarter after sales declined 15 percent to $12.9 billion.

Acer's planned 35 percent to 40 percent growth in laptop shipments this year would outpace the 18.1 percent gain forecast for the notebook segment worldwide by IDC.

Acer's 2009 profit dropped 3 percent to NT$11.35 billion, on a 5 percent gain in revenue to NT$574 billion. Operating profit climbed 9 percent to NT$15.3 billion.

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