AAPL Apple Inc

By Yoko Kubota 

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

Taiwan-based Foxconn, which assembles Apple's iPhones in China, reported 71.7 billion New Taiwan dollars ($2.5 billion) in profit for the quarter ended Dec. 31, up from 68.8 billion New Taiwan dollars in the like period one year ago.

The net profit beat the 64.4 billion New Taiwan dollars average estimate of analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ.

Quarterly revenue rose 23% to 1.7 trillion New Taiwan dollars.

Foxconn, known formally as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., is the world's largest contract electronics maker. In the third quarter, Foxconn's profit fell 39% over the year-earlier period, likely hit by production troubles for the iPhone X that pushed back the start of sales to November.

Apple booked an all-time high revenue last quarter and said in February that the iPhone X, with a starting price of $1,000, boosted the average selling price for iPhones by nearly 15%.

For 2017, Foxconn posted a net profit of 138.7 New Taiwan dollars, down 7% from a year ago, and revenue of 4.7 trillion New Taiwan dollars, up 8%.

Foxconn's chairman Terry Gou has been moving to expand the company's business beyond contract manufacturing. In a move to bolster consumer brands, a Foxconn unit recently agreed to buy smartphone and electronics accessories maker Belkin International Inc. for $866 million.

Another subsidiary Foxconn Industrial Internet Co., makers of smartphones and wireless equipment components, recently won approval from China's securities regulator to launch an initial public offering that will 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 30, 2018 11:27 ET (15:27 GMT)

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