UTStarcom Profit Surges 86%; Raises Full-Year Outlook (Update3)
By Michael Forsythe
quote.bloomberg.com
Alameda, California, April 18 (Bloomberg) -- UTStarcom Inc., a maker of telecommunications equipment, raised its full-year profit and sales forecasts after first-quarter profit rose 86 percent on surging sales of its wireless phone systems in China.
Net income in the three months ended March 31 increased to $17.5 million, or 15 cents a share, from $9.4 million, or 9 cents, a year earlier, the company said in a statement. UTStarcom, which generates 90 percent of sales from China, raised full-year profit forecasts by 4 cents a share.
``We knew that they were going to have a strong quarter,'' said Dale Pfau, an analyst with CIBC World Markets in San Francisco. ``The degree of the strength was somewhat of a surprise.''
Profit and sales at Alameda, California-based UTStarcom may continue to rise in the second quarter because it won a record $197 million of new orders for its phone systems in China, analysts said. The company plans to expand in new markets such as India, aiming for non-China revenue to make up 15 percent of sales by the end of the year.
``We believe India is going to be as significant a market as China,'' Chief Executive Officer Hong Lu said in a conference call. ``We treat it as a strategic market.'' |
