Foxconn Q1 sales edge up, but Q2 outlook poor

TAIPEI (Reuters) - Taiwan's Foxconn, the world's largest contract electronics maker and major iPhone assembler for Apple Inc, said on Wednesday that revenue in the first quarter rose 3.9% year-on-year, but that sales for the current quarter would be down.

Revenue last month reached the third highest on record for March at T$400.3 billion ($13.14 billion), though that represented a 21.1% year-on-year fall, the company said in a statement.

The rise in sales for the first three months of the year, to T$1.46 trillion, was a fresh record high for the same period, and in line with previous guidance, Foxconn, formally called Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd, said.

For smart consumer electronics products, which includes smartphones, revenue in March declined due to new product launches in the same period last year.

The outlook for the second quarter is expected to decrease on a quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year basis, the company said, coming off a high base from an "unseasonally strong pull-in in the first half of last year which occurred as the components shortage from 2021 eased".

The company will report first quarter earnings on May 11 when it will also give an update on its outlook for the current quarter and full year.

The company last month predicted revenue for the full year to be flat, as weak demand for consumer electronics would be offset by significant growth in computing, cloud, networking and component products.

More than half of Foxconn's revenue comes from consumer electronics.

Foxconn shares have risen 4.1% so far this year, lagging the broader Taiwan market which is up 12.2%.

The market was closed on Wednesday for a holiday in Taiwan.

($1 = 30.4550 Taiwan dollars)

(This story has been corrected to change figure to T$1.46 trillion from T$1.42 billion in paragraph 3)

(Reporting by Ben Blanchard, Editing by Louise Heavens and Christina Fincher)