Acer boss predicts blow-out Q4 numbers

Despite hefty pay-out for Gateway

By Kelly Fiveash • Get more from this author

Posted in PC Builder, 29th October 2007 13:14 GMT

Computer maker Acer, which recently acquired US firm Gateway, has said it expects to be hit by a $30m restructuring charge in the fourth quarter.

But the company predicts fourth quarter revenues will be up 10 per cent to 20 per cent on its Q3 figures.

Acer's chairman J T Wang, whose firm's Q3 results were released last week, reckoned strong PC shipments would help drive that revenue push, according to today's Wall Street Journal.

Last Thursday Acer, which completed its $710m takeover of Gateway on 17 October, posted a 28.7 per cent jump in revenues year-on-year to $3.74bn.

The firm saw profit after tax of nearly $90m, representing a 58 per cent growth from $57m in the previous year, with earnings valued at $1.24 per share.

The WSJ also reports that Wang said Acer expected fourth quarter operating profit, after the $30m restructuring costs related to the Gateway acquisition, to exceed the $86.2m in profit chalked up in Q3.

Wang said Taiwan-based Acer hoped to ship more than 25 million PCs in 2008 to move up the rankings table from fourth to third place in global shipments, in its bit to overtake arch rival Lenovo.

The full Acer results can be viewed here. ®

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