HTC forecasts lower revenues, thinner margins after reporting poor Q4 financials
HTC stock will take a hit after news that the company saw a significant downturn in revenues during the fourth quarter of 2011. While annual revenues were up overall (465.79 billion Taiwanese dollars in 2011 compared 278.76 billion in 2010), the surge seen for most of the year trailed off as HTC’s take for the final months of 2011 lagged at 101.42 billion Taiwanese dollars. The drop off follows four quarters of successive growth that saw revenues rise to 124.40 billion in Q2 and 135.82 billion in Q3. Despite the overall increase in revenues, profits for 2011 were down 11.88 percent.
WIth the poor end-of-year performance, HTC is forecasting unfavorable results heading into the new year. Revenues for Q1 predicted by independent analysts to be close to 90 billion Taiwanese dollars have now been dropped to 65-70 billion by HTC’s own financial department. The smartphone manufacturer hopes the downturn is only temporary and expects the announcement of new devices at Mobile World Congress to spark increased revenues though ever shrinking margins (tracking at 7.5 percent, a three-year low) may continue to dig into profits.