11.08.2001
Strong results due to favorable product mix

• Amtran booked Oct. revenues of NT$1.16bn, in line with our forecast. Gross margin, however, came in higher than expected at 8.9%, beating our expectations, while gross margin averaged out at 8.5% for first 3 quarters. Gross margin improvement was due to rising shipments of high-margin 17-inch and over LCD monitors. In the first ten months, operating expenses were lower and foreign exchange gains and tax credit higher than our forecasts. We have therefore revised up our '01 and '02 forecast EPS by 23% and 34%, respectively, to NT$3.48 and NT$4.35. The revision comes on the back of higher LCD monitor shipments and expectation of new product contributions (i.e. LCD TV and PDP). We maintain our rating due to firm's attractive valuation, solid balance sheet and profit momentum.