AAPL Apple Inc

By Yoko Kubota 

This article is being republished as part of our daily reproduction of WSJ.com articles that also appeared in the U.S. print edition of The Wall Street Journal (March 31, 2018).

BEIJING -- Foxconn Technology Group posted a better-than-expected 4% rise in fourth-quarter profit, bouncing back after major customer Apple Inc. overcame production troubles for the iPhone X.

Taiwan-based Foxconn, which assembles Apple's iPhones in China, said Friday that profit for 2017's final period climbed to 71.7 billion New Taiwan dollars (US$2.5 billion), from NT$68.8 billion a year earlier.

Analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ were expecting on average a fourth-quarter profit of NT$64.4 billion.

Revenue rose 23% to NT$1.7 trillion, after flat results for the preceding quarter.

Foxconn, known formally as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., is the world's largest contract electronics maker. In the third quarter, profit fell 39% from a year earlier, likely reflecting production troubles for the iPhone X that delayed initial sales of the device until November. Foxconn doesn't hold earnings conference calls and hasn't commented iPhone X production.

Apple, which is Foxconn's largest customer, booked record revenue for its latest quarter, and said in February that the iPhone X, with a starting price of $1,000, boosted the average selling price for its iPhones by nearly 15%.

For all of 2017, Foxconn posted a profit of NT$138.7 billion, down 7% from the prior year, and revenue of NT$4.7 trillion, up 8%.

Foxconn Chairman Terry Gou has been working to expand the company's business beyond contract manufacturing and into consumer brands of its own. A Foxconn unit recently agreed to buy smartphone and electronics accessories maker Belkin International Inc. for $866 million.

Another subsidiary, Foxconn Industrial Internet Co., which makes smartphones and wireless-equipment components, recently won regulatory approval in China for an initial public offering to raise at least 27.3 billion yuan (US$4.3 billion) on the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

The unit said it plans to use the funds to invest in cloud computing, 5G technology and smart manufacturing.

Write to Yoko Kubota at yoko.kubota@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 31, 2018 02:47 ET (06:47 GMT)

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