Taiwan HTC Q2 net lags forecasts as smartphone sales sag

09-Jul-2012 Intellasia | Reuters | 7:01 AM

Taiwan’s HTC Corp, the world’s fifth-largest smartphone maker, reported a 57.8 percent fall in quarterly net profit, missing forecasts, as European sales disappointed and US sales were held up by customs inspections.

Unaudited April-June net profit was T$7.4 billion ($247.7 million), the company said in a statement on Friday. That was down from T$17.52 billion in the same period a year earlier but up from T$4.47 billion in January-March. It did not elaborate.

Earnings had been expected to drop to T$8.25 billion, according to a Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S survey of 21 analysts.

Second-quarter revenue was T$91 billion. HTC last month cut its quarterly revenue target by more than 13 percent because of the European and US sales outlook.

Consolidated sales for June were T$30 billion, down 33.4 percent from the same month a year earlier and unchanged from May.

HTC shares closed down 5.15 percent at T$322 before the earnings release, while the broader market fell 0.26 percent.

http://in.reuters.com/article/2012/07/06/htc-results-idINT8E8HI00B20120706