ASUS reported a staggering NT$5.35 billion ($172 million) bad debt provision in the fourth quarter after a server customer in India severely delayed payments, causing quarterly profits to plunge 87% to NT$2.2 per share.
The customer was identified as a company under India’s Yotta Group, which reportedly ordered NVIDIA AI chips worth $500 million last year while expanding aggressively in the cloud service provider market. ASUS CFO Nick Wu stated the company is in close contact with Yotta and expressed confidence in recovering the funds, noting the customer has several financing projects underway.
Despite this setback, ASUS achieved strong full-year results for 2024, with profits nearly doubling to NT$31.39 billion ($1.01 billion) compared to 2023. The company attributed this performance to rebounding PC shipments and significant expansion in AI server business.
The board approved a cash dividend of NT$34 per share, double the previous year’s NT$17, representing an 80% payout ratio and approximately 5.2% yield based on the current share price.
Fourth-quarter operating margin fell to 0.7%, though the company noted it would have reached 4.5% without the bad debt provision. Foreign exchange losses of NT$658 million also impacted quarterly results.
