HTC's first-quarter net profit rose 3% from 160 million

Beijing Time April 6 Evening news, according to foreign media reported today, HTC released the first quarter of the 2010 financial year results.　　According to the report, HTC's first-quarter smartphone sales were better than expected last year as consumer demand began to rise in the global economic recovery, boosting net profit by 3.1% per cent year-on-year. In the quarter ended March 31, HTC had a net profit of NT $5.03 billion (about $158.7 million), up 3.1% per cent from 4.88 billion NT dollars (about $154.2 million trillion) over the same period last year. HTC's first-quarter revenue was 37.7 billion NT dollars (about $1.191 billion), up 19% from 31.59 billion NT dollars (about $998 million trillion) over the same period last year, exceeding HTC's January forecast of NT $32 billion ($ 1.011 billion) to NT $34 billion (　　About 1.074 billion dollars).　　HTC declined to comment on the results. Macquarie Capital Nomura analyst Lu Jialin said the main reason for HTC's revenue exceeded expectations was strong sales growth, especially from North America. "I think the market has been overly worried about the higher spending on HTC and the lower pricing of smartphones," he said. Analysts point out that HTC's strategy of marketing spending to improve brand awareness seems to be beginning to come to fruition.　　HTC's operating expenses in the fourth quarter of last year were 7.05 billion NT dollars (about $223 million), up 33% from the same period in 2008, mainly due to marketing campaigns in North America and Europe. Lu Jialin forecasts that HTC will continue to achieve revenue growth in the next few quarters, driven by strong sales growth in North America and Europe.　　He rated HTC's shares as "outperform" (outperform) with a target price of NT $420 (about $13.27). HTC CEO Peter Chou said in an interview last week that the company is growing faster than other smartphone makers in the US market this year. Last year, the company exported 5.5 million to 6 million smartphones to the US market, according to the HTC report. He said the data are expected to continue to grow this year, but no specific figures have been disclosed. He also said HTC plans to work with China Mobile to launch six new models for the Chinese market this year. (Tangfeng)