By Leslie D. Venzon
MANILA, May 8 (PNA) — Ayala-led Integrated Micro-Electronics Inc. (IMI) booked a 36-percent increase in profit to USD 6.8 million in the first quarter 2015 despite foreign exchange headwinds.
In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, IMI attributed the improvement in net income to its focus on higher margin segments, productivity and cost saving efforts.
The company’s revenues reached USD 201.2 million in January to March, down by two percent year-on-year.
“As we press on, we look forward to line expansions in Bulgaria, Jiaxing and Mexico to cater to increased demand in our target market of automotive electronics,” said Arthur Tan, IMI president and chief executive officer.
The electronics manufacturing services (EMS) operations in the Philippines slightly declined by 3.7 percent to USD 52.7 million in revenues due to softer demand from the computing sector.
The company’s Europe and Mexico operations increased three percent to USD 68.9 million revenues, even as a weaker euro tempered gains from the company’s growing automotive business in Bulgaria.
Excluding the impact of year-over-year changes in foreign exchange rates, total revenue in the region would have increased by 19 percent.
Jerome Tan, IMI chief finance officer, said the weakness in euro affects the company’s revenues.
“But due to our strategy to match our costs with the same currency and our global diversification, its impact on our profit is lessened. Our new business pipeline remains healthy, and we expect to be on track for the medium term growth with significant multisite new businesses awarded recently,” he said.
IMI China’s USD 68.8 million revenues saw a 5.9-percent reduction due to slower growth of the country’s 4G telecommunications sector after the strong ramp up of the 4G rollout to major cities in 2014. (PNA)