Diodes Has $14.5 Million in Revenue in 4th Quarter

Diodes Inc. in Westlake Village reported $14.5 million in revenue for the three months ended Dec. 31, down from $16.7 million a year earlier.

Net income was $412,000, compared with $1.4 million in the fourth quarter of 1997. Diluted earnings per share were 8 cents, compared with 25 cents in the same period a year earlier.

Fourth-quarter earnings reflect a $512,000 charge, or 10 cents per diluted share, for income tax expense based on the company’s decision to issue an earnings distribution from its Taiwan subsidiary, Diodes-Taiwan.

The decision was made in part because of recent changes in Taiwan income tax policies and partly to allow the company to redirect its financial resources to Diodes-China, its manufacturing facility in Shanghai.

For the 12 months ended Dec. 31, the company reported revenue of $60.3 million, compared with $65.7 million in the prior year. Net income, after the $512,000 tax expense, was $2.7 million, compared with $5.1 million in 1997. Diluted earnings per share were 50 cents versus 93 cents in 1997.

“Notwithstanding the bottom-line impact, the company felt it was desirable to utilize the retained earnings of Diodes-Taiwan to support the expansion of the manufacturing facility on mainland China,” said Diodes President Michael Rosenberg. “With state-of-the-art equipment, sophisticated operating systems and access to a plentiful labor supply, the plant in China already gives us a cost of production that is, we believe, among the lowest in the industry.”

Diodes Inc. provides semiconductor devices to manufacturers in the automotive, electronics, computing and telecommunications industries.