Ritek suffered net loss per share of NT$1.1 last year

Ritek, on April 26, published its audited 2005 financial report, recording a net loss per share of NT$1.1. The company’s board of directors, at a meeting on April 26, decided not to distribute any dividend for 2005 operations.

In addition to the net operating loss, Ritek suffered a large loss of NT$1.4 billion from non-operating investment in its subsidiary RiTdisplay, a leading OLED (organic light-emitting diode) maker in Taiwan, due to continued drops in OLED prices, according to Ritek spokesman Eric Ai.

The Ritek board has decided to issue up to 1 billion new shares for fundraising, either through floating GDRs (global depositary receipts) or sales to targeted investors, Ai indicated. The board will be authorized to choose one of the two fundraising methods by shareholders, at this year’s shareholder meeting scheduled for June 14, Ai noted.

With a debt ratio of 35.97% and cash on hand of NT$7.4 billion currently, as well as comparatively low depreciation for manufacturing equipment, Ritek is subject to lower risk in its operation than fellow manufacturers in Taiwan, Ai pointed out. Ritek has not yet released financial figures for its operations in the first quarter of this year, but institutional investors on the local bourse predict a pre-tax loss of NT$600-800 million and a corresponding pre-tax loss per share of NT$0.3-0.4.

Source: company, compiled by DigiTimes.com, April 2006

Article translated by Adam Hwang