Hana revises up revenue forecast on fast recovery

       Hana Microelectronics Plc (HANA), the country's biggest semiconductor manufacturer, has raised its revenue forecast this year to a contraction of only 18%,up from an estimated decline of 30%, in anticipation of a solid economic rebound.
       "There will be an 18% contraction for our sales this year, but it is less than our previous estimate of a 30% decrease from last year," said Issra Sivakul, vicepresident and CPG general manager of Hana Semiconductor Co Ltd, a member of Hana Microelectronics Plc.
       All economic data from the second quarter show a rebound in electronics export orders, driven by restocking by manufacturers and related industries,which also brought an improvement in Hana's second quarter.
       The third quarter will also produce higher profit, as customers look to restock before the year-end, said Mr Issra.
       The company has cut its prices this year to maintain sales in the face of consumers' weaker purchasing power,he added.
       "It is also a peak period for this type of industry," said Mr Issra.
       "From now on we will try to win market share, to reduce costs in terms of the supply chain and to raise our output by at least 10% to increase economies of scale."
       Hana is also looking to manufacture new products such as a Windows 7 touchscreen interface, which will be ready in October.
       To cut production costs, the company invested US$1 million in upgrading machinery in the first half of this year.
       Hana plans to invest $10 million in the second half to raise its daily output of integrated circuits (IC) to 11 million units from 10 million today.
       Another 120 million baht will be spent on purchasing land in Lamphun province for expanding printed circuit board assembly (PCBA) production from 2011.
       The SET-listed electronic parts maker currently employs 7,993 people. It has recently taken on 600 additional staff and is likely to hire another 400-500 in the second half of this year.
       First-half revenue was 6.05 billion baht,compared with 7.87 billion in the same period last year. Net profit was 705.44 million baht (0.86 baht a share), down 29% from 993.55 million (1.20 baht a share) a year earlier.
       Shares of Hana closed yesterday on the SET at 19.80 baht, unchanged, in trade worth 8.06 million baht.