Hon Hai Q1 net profit up 72% year-on-year but down 59% sequentially

Taipei, May 14 (CNA) iPhone assembler Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd. reported Tuesday that its net profit in the first quarter of this year soared 72 percent from a year earlier, following a recovery in global demand and a decline in the losses from non-core business investments.

However, net profit in the first quarter fell 59 percent compared to the last quarter of 2023. That was in line with Hon Hai's expectations and due to slow season effects.

In a statement, Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn on the global markets, said it posted NT$22.01 billion (US$679 million) in net profit in the first quarter of the year, up 72 percent from the NT$12.83 billion posted a year earlier, but down 59 percent from the NT$53.15 billion logged a quarter earlier.

The first quarter earnings per share stood at NT$1.59, compared with NT$0.93 over the same period last year, and NT$3.83 in the fourth quarter.

From January-March, Hon Hai's consolidated sales hit NT$1.32 trillion, down 9 percent from a year earlier and down 29 percent from a quarter earlier.

Hon Hai said its gross margin -- the difference between revenue and cost of goods sold -- reached 6.32 percent in the first quarter, up from 6.04 percent a year earlier and up from 6.12 percent a quarter earlier.

Its operating margin -- the difference between sales, the cost of goods sold and operating expenses -- also grew to 2.78 percent from 2.77 percent a year earlier and from 2.64 percent a quarter earlier, Hon Hai said.

In addition, its net margin -- the difference between gross profit and total expenses including interest payments and taxes -- stood at 1.66 percent in the first quarter, up from 0.88 percent a year earlier but down from 2.87 percent a quarter earlier.

Hon Hai said sales generated by its smart consumer electronics division fell sharply on a year-on-year and quarter-on-quarter basis in the first quarter, while revenue posted by its cloud and networking product division in the first quarter grew slightly from a year earlier but was little changed from a quarter earlier.

Hon Hai added that sales registered by its computing division in the first quarter fell sharply from a quarter earlier but stayed flat from a year earlier.

Revenue generated by the electronics component division dropped sharply from a quarter earlier but rose slightly from a year earlier, the company said.