Acer Misses Profit Estimates on One-Time Tax Charge

Taiwanese personal computer maker Acer Inc. said it swung to a net profit in the second quarter, despite weak demand and stiff competition from tablet makers such as Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL).

Acer reported earnings of 56 million New Taiwan dollars (US$1.9 million) and NT$110.6 billion (US$3.6 billion) in revenue. That profit was well below the NT$550 million profit forecast of analysts polled by Thomson Reuters, and compares to a net profit of NT$331 million in the first quarter and a net loss of NT$6.79 billion in the second quarter of last year. The company made a one-time $410 million tax settlement in Europe during the quarter. The revenue figure was up from NT$102 billion a year ago, but also fell short of consensus expectations.

“We originally expected high growth in the second half, but because of the global economic situation and the uncertainty of the Windows 8 ecosystem, the big growth expectation turned out to be medium growth,” said chairman and CEO J. T. Wang in a conference call.

Acer said revenue in the third quarter would be flat, but forecast that fourth-quarter revenue should grow 5% to 10%.

This is in strong contrast to China-based Lenovo, which not only has gained market share but just posted strong profits. The company said net income rose 30% in the most recent quarter, and both gross profit and operating margins improved.

U.S. competitors Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) and Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ) are scheduled to report earnings next week. Analysts expect to see earnings and revenue declines from both of them.