Exports power Hana's growth

ELECTRONICS

Exports power Hana's growth

YUTHANA PRAIWAN

Hana Microelectronics Plc, the SET-listed electronic parts manufacturer, expects revenue growth of at least 12% in Thai baht terms and 15% in US dollars. Issra Sivakul, vice-president and general manager, cited rising orders from the global telecommunications and electronics industries.

Hana recorded total revenue last year of 16 billion baht or US$452 million. Its main sources of revenue were printed circuit boards and integrated circuit (IC) assemblies, more than 80% of the total.

Mr Issra said the company's IC production plant in Ayutthaya was now producing 9.6 million units per day, up from six million at the end of the second quarter.

Hana operates three factories in Thailand and one in China, assembling IC packages and printed circuit board assemblies (PCBA) for customers in the US, Asia and Europe.

''The market for PCBA is growing continuously. Our IC assembly customers continue to be upbeat as growth for microelectronic devices remains strong,'' said Mr Issra.

He foresees strong growth in the global electronics market for the remainder of the year since global parts inventories had decreased significantly since early this year.

The products mostly are parts for security transaction cards, sensor equipment, touch-screen equipment monitors, global positioning system equipment and light-emitting diode monitors.

Hana is also preparing to operate its new 100-million-baht expansion in an existing production plant, adding 3,000 square metres for a low-technology production line relocated from the old manufacturing space.

The company is also considering building a new factory at the same location to serve its new high technology product line, which will help generate higher margins for the company.

Mr Issra said IC and PCBA products mostly serve sectors such as mobile phones, MP3 players, digital cameras, laptop computers, medical equipment and sensor equipment in vehicles.

Hana reported that its second-quarter revenue dropped 1% to 3.925 billion baht from 3.967 billion a year earlier, but net profit rose 26% to 545 million baht. First-half revenue rose 1% to 7.76 billion baht from 7.66 billion last year, with net profit rising 24% to 993.5 million baht from 821 million.

The rise in profit was due mainly to higher capacity utilisation, with annual output up by 10% as a result of high efficiency machineries, automatic manufacturing and material cost control.

Hana shares closed on yesterday on the SET at 17.80 baht, up 10 satang, in trade worth 2.5 million baht.