SINGAPORE (May 14): Integrated contract manufacturer Hi-P International has bought back shares four times this month, as its shares slid on dimmer earnings prospects. On May 8, the company bought 66,800 shares for $92,405, or an average price of $1.38. On May 7, it acquired 300,000 shares for a total consideration of $436,044, representing an average price of $1.45 a share. Earlier, on May 4, it bought 400,000 shares for $587,406, or an average price of $1.47 each. A day before that, Hi-P purchased 761,200 shares for $1.1 million, or an average price of $1.49.
Hi-P’s shares have declined 12.9% since the release of its results on May 2. For 1QFY2018 ended March 31, the company reported a 20% y-o-y rise in earnings to $10.1 million. Meanwhile, revenue rose 15.1% y-o-y to $281.1 million on the back of higher sales volume. However, its gross profit margin fell 0.3 percentage points y-o-y to 13.4%. Other expenses increased $7.7 million y-o-y to $11.3 million, owing to a net foreign exchange loss of $13 million. This arose from the weakening of the US dollar against the Singapore dollar and renminbi. Hi-P incurred a $5.2 million forex loss a year ago.
