Acer Inc. reported a 57% year-on-year drop in first-quarter profit, as foreign exchange losses of NT$445 million ($13.9 million) overshadowed improvements in its core business operations.
The Taiwanese computer maker posted net income of NT$515 million for the January-March period, its lowest in eight quarters, with earnings per share of NT$0.17. While revenue rose 4.3% to NT$61.3 billion, the bottom line was severely impacted by non-operating losses.
Acer cited unexpected currency volatility for the profit decline, with Chairman Jason Chen previously warning about challenges from geopolitics, trade barriers, inflation and currency fluctuations. The company maintains it has risk management measures in place and urged investors to view currency impacts over the long term rather than quarterly results.
Despite the profit slump, Acer’s operational performance showed resilience with gross margin improving to 10.6% and operating profit increasing 33% year-on-year to NT$1.04 billion.
The company’s diversification strategy appears to be paying off, with non-PC businesses contributing 31.6% of revenue but generating 50.1% of operating profit.
Regionally, Pan-Asia accounted for 54.1% of sales, while the U.S. market represented 25.2%, slightly higher than the same period last year.
Acer plans to showcase new AI PCs and other products at Taipei’s Computex exhibition later this month.
