Hi-P International reported a 3.3% dip in earnings for 1H20 ended June to $24.2 million, from $25.0 million a year ago.

 

This translates to earnings per share (EPS) to 3 cents, down 3.8% from the 3.12 cents during the same period last year.

 

Revenue declined 5.1% y-o-y to $543.8 million mainly due to the Covid-19 disruptions in 

1Q20 ended March. Hi-P says the decline was cushioned by higher turnover for 2Q20 ended June.

 

1H20 gross profit fell 10.1% y-o-y to $68.4 million while gross profit margin (GPM) contracted 0.6 percentage points to 12.6%, from 13.3% last year. This is due to the lower revenue, losses from the Covid-19 disruptions from Hi-P&rsquo s operations in China in February 2020, and higher depreciation of property, plant, and equipment.

 

Other income rose 61.4% y-o-y to $7.6 million mainly from the subsidies granted.

 

&ldquo We have initiated a business transformation campaign within Hi-P to sharpen our competitive edge. Notably, we have re-organized our management structure into two business units which are driven by two newly appointed Chief Operating Officers,&rdquo says Yao Hsiao Tung, executive chairman and CEO.

 

&ldquo This will enable us to better serve our customers and grow our businesses, and also part of our senior management development and leadership planning. Additionally, we are gathering momentum and continuously working on several initiatives including diversifying our production regions and customer base, ODM development, artificial intelligence aided system flows and automation, amongst others. 

 

All business functions and manufacturing sites have also initiated their own transformation plans as we embark on this holistic corporate transformation project,&rdquo he adds.

 

As at June 30, cash and cash equivalents stood at $318.1 million.