Acer unaudited Q1 net profit misses forecasts; forex blamed
TAIPEI, April 22 — Taiwan’s Acer Inc reported a 64 per cent fall in unaudited first quarter net profit, missing forecasts, blaming fluctuations in exchange rates.
The world’s No.2 PC vendor posted a net profit of T$1.187 billion (RM123 million) in January to March, it said today, compared with a consensus forecast of T$2.585 billion from Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
The figure was below the fourth quarter’s T$3.9 billion and the T$3.29 billion in the same quarter a year earlier.
“As a global company, Acer’s self-assessed revenues for PC products are mostly calculated in US currency for its international observers,” the company said in a brief statement.
“This means that a greater fluctuation in exchange rates will show higher differences between the percentage growth/decline rate in estimation and actual results in NT currency.”
It did not elaborate further.
Earlier this week the company cut its PC shipment forecast for the second quarter, citing a recent reorganisation, inventory adjustment and a seasonal slowdown in the PC industry.
It removed its CEO at the end of March due to differences over the strategy needed to deal with the challenge to its core PC business from the growth of tablet PCs.
The company will explain its results to investors and give final Q1 figures on April 28. — Reuters
