TAINAN, Taiwan, May 10, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Himax Technologies, Inc. ("Himax" or "Company") (Nasdaq:HIMX) today reported financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2011.
For the first quarter of 2011, Himax reported net revenues of $141.1 million, representing a 19.6% decrease from $175.5 million in the first quarter of 2010, and a 0.1% decrease from $141.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2010. Gross margin was 20.1% in the first quarter of 2011, up 30 basis points year-over-year and down 140 basis points, sequentially. Operating income in the first quarter was $2.5 million, compared to $10.1 million for the same period last year and $12.9 million in the previous quarter.
Net income attributable to Himax stockholders for the first quarter of 2011 was $2.7 million or $0.02 per diluted ADS, down from $9.1 million or $0.05 per diluted ADS in the first quarter of 2010, and down from $11.7 million or $0.07 per diluted ADS in the fourth quarter of 2010.
Excluding share-based compensation and acquisition-related charges, non-GAAP operating income for the first quarter of 2011 was $4.3 million, down from $12.5 million in the same period last year, and down from $14.5 million in the previous quarter.
Non-GAAP net income attributable to Himax stockholders for the first quarter of 2011 was $4.1 million or $0.02 per diluted ADS, down from $11.2 million or $0.06 per diluted ADS in the first quarter of 2010, and down from $13.0 million or $0.07 per diluted ADS in the fourth quarter of 2010.
Reconciliation of gross margin, operating margin, net margin and diluted EPS excluding share-based compensation and acquisition-related charges, a non-GAAP financial measure, to GAAP gross margin, GAAP operating margin, GAAP net margin and diluted GAAP EPS, most comparable GAAP figure, is set out in the attached reconciliation schedule.
Jordan Wu, President and Chief Executive Officer of Himax, commented, "In the first quarter, small and medium-sized applications and non-driver products continued to demonstrate strong growth momentum. Revenues from small and medium-sized applications and non-driver products both hit record highs as a percentage of revenues. The big picture summary of our first quarter performance is that while we achieved a more balanced product mix and continued to improve on customer diversification, our gross margin and bottom line profitability were not satisfactory. Notwithstanding the short-term unsatisfactory margin, we are encouraged by the fundamental improvements in our product and customer diversification, which is in line with the overall direction we set a long time ago and will greatly enhance our corporate value in the long-term. While the short-term low margin is a concern, we see this as temporary in nature and we are fully committed to improving our gross margin in short time."
Mr. Wu continued, "For the driver IC product line, cell phone, or more specifically, smart phone, and medium size panels are the two segments which show the best growth potential. We are leading the market in technologies such as color enhancement, 3D data processing, MIPI high speed interface as well as HD720 and WXGA resolutions. We are also excited about CMOS image sensors where we are seeing a surge in demand. Our customer base for CMOS image sensor is mostly leading brand names for both handsets and laptops. We continue to receive positive feedback regarding product performance and win new projects from these customers. On the wafer-level optics product line we just began our first mass production shipment and look for demand to pickup in the second quarter and onward."
Mr. Wu continued, "Moving to the second quarter, we are seeing strong demand pick-up across literally all product lines. However, even though the recent Japan earthquake has had limited impact on our own display driver supply chain, it does pose an uncertainty to our second quarter guidance as we are not entirely certain how the overall industry supply chain has been affected. For the second quarter, we expect revenues to go up 10% to 15% with gross margin to decline 1% to 1.5%. Our GAAP earnings per ADS is expected to be in the range of 2 to 3 cents."
Investor Conference Call / Webcast Details
The Company's management will review detailed first quarter 2011 results on Monday, May 9, 2011 at 7:00 PM NYC (7:00 AM, Tuesday, May 10, Taiwan time). The conference dial-in numbers are +1-201-689-8471 (international) and +1-877-407-4018 (U.S. domestic). A live webcast of the conference call will be available on the Company's website at . The playback will be available beginning two hours after the call through 12:00 PM Taiwan time on Wednesday, May 16, 2011 (midnight U.S. Eastern Standard Time) at www.himax.com.tw and by telephone at +1-858-384-5517 (international) or +1-877-870-5176 (U.S. domestic). The conference ID number is 370986.
About Himax Technologies, Inc.
Himax Technologies, Inc. designs, develops, and markets semiconductors that are critical components of flat panel displays. The Company's principal products are display drivers for large-sized TFT-LCD panels, which are used in desktop monitors, notebook computers and televisions, and display drivers for small- and medium-sized TFT-LCD panels, which are used in mobile handsets and consumer electronics products such as tablet PCs, netbook computers, digital cameras, mobile gaming devices, portable DVD players, digital photo frame and car navigation displays. In addition, the Company is expanding its product offerings to include timing controllers, touch controller ICs, LCD TV and monitor chipset solutions, LCOS projector solutions, power management ICs, CMOS Image Sensors, Infinitely Color Technology and 2D to 3D conversion solutions. Based in Tainan, Taiwan, the Company has regional offices in Hsinchu and Taipei, Taiwan; Ninbo, Foshan, Fuqing, Beijing, Shanghai, Suzhou and Shenzhen, China; Yokohama and Matsusaka, Japan; Cheonan-si, Chungcheongnam-do, South Korea; and Irvine, California, USA.
Forward-Looking Statements:
Factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially include, but not limited to, general business and economic conditions and the state of the semiconductor industry; market acceptance and competitiveness of the driver and non-driver products developed by the Company; demand for end-use applications products; reliance on a small group of principal customers; the uncertainty of continued success in technological innovations; our ability to develop and protect our intellectual property; pricing pressures including declines in average selling prices; changes in customer order patterns; changes in estimated full-year effective tax rate; shortages in supply of key components; changes in environmental laws and regulations; exchange rate fluctuations; regulatory approvals for further investments in our subsidiaries; our ability to collect accounts receivable and manage inventory; the uncertainty of success in our Taiwan listing plan which is still under review by Taiwan regulatory authorities and subject to change due to, among other things, changes in either Taiwan or US authorities' policies and Taiwan regulatory authorities' acceptance of the Company's Taiwan listing application and other risks described from time to time in the Company's SEC filings, including those risks identified in the section entitled "Risk Factors" in its Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2009 filed with SEC on dated June 3, 2010, as amended.
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CONTACT: Jessie Wang / Jessica Huang Investor Relations Himax Technologies, Inc. +886-2-2370-3999 Ext. 22618 / 22513 jessie_wang@himax.com.tw jessica_huang@himax.com.tw In the U.S. Joseph Villalta The Ruth Group +1-646-536-7003 jvillalta@theruthgroup.com