KOKUSAI ELECTRIC, the Tokyo-listed chip-equipment maker, reported first-half revenue of ¥164.0bn, up 40.0% on a year earlier, for the six months to September 30. Operating profit rose 62.1% to ¥36.8bn and profit attributable to owners of the parent rose 66.5% to ¥25.9bn, according to its interim earnings release.
What management credits
The company says AI-related demand is driving investment by semiconductor device makers, especially for data-centre servers. It describes high-performance logic and DRAM as the centre of that spending, with NAND investment mostly tied to device generation changes. Demand recovery in consumer electronics and in automotive and industrial devices is, in its words, gradual.
Profit growth came with a softer gross margin. The company's results presentation puts the six-month gross margin at 41.8%, against 42.2% a year earlier, and attributes the decline to a change in product mix.
Forecast and dividend unchanged
The release leaves the full-year forecast as it was: revenue of ¥340.0bn, operating profit of ¥79.4bn and attributable profit of ¥55.5bn. The company says results are tracking that forecast. The presentation's second-half revenue forecast is ¥176.0bn, against ¥164.0bn booked in the first half.
The board set the interim dividend at ¥32 a share, as already forecast, against ¥18 a year earlier, for a total of ¥7.47bn payable from December 8. That is not a higher annual plan: the full-year forecast stays at ¥65, with a ¥33 year-end payment, and the company puts the payout at 25.2% of adjusted profit.