An exceptional gain of $2.4m, on the disposal of property in the US, put the icing to VTech Holdings Ltd’s cake. The Hong Kong-based consumer electronics conglomerate reported profits up 64.4% at $14.3m on turnover up 30.2% at $327.5m for the six months to September 30. By segment, sales of electronic toys were up 33% to $153.0m, telecommunications up 71% at $81.6m and personal computers by 4.4% at $92.9m. By geographic area, the US still dominates the VTech profit and loss account, with turnover up 27.7% at $189.9m, where Europe was up 12.3% at $76.0m and Canada up 6.9% at $10.8m. The company’s focus on the Asia Pacific markets continues to pay dividends. Turnover from the home region was up 102.4% at $50.8m in the region and VTech believes there is potential in China for a cable set-top decoder unit and has planned a new plant to increase production over the next 10 years. The company will pay an interim dividend of 1.5 cents.
