TAIPEI—Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., the primary assembler of
Apple Inc.'s products, is considering Chinese listings for its
mainland-based units over the next three to five years, its
chairman said Thursday.
Speaking at an annual shareholder meeting Thursday at Hon Hai's
headquarters in Taipei, Chairman Terry Gou said spinoffs will
likely boost the valuation of its sprawling operations in China. He
declined to offer more details of the plan.
Also at the meeting, Mr. Gou said despite Hon Hai's recent
expansion plan in India, the company isn't planning to scale down
its manufacturing operation in China, where the domestic consumer
market is taking off.
Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn, has been spinning off its
various component operations on the stock markets in Hong Kong and
Taiwan. The latest was General Interface Solution Ltd., a touch
panel display unit.
Hon Hai has made its name in the manufacturing industry as it
assembles the majority of the world's consumer electronics,
including Apple iPhones and iPads, Sony PlayStation game consoles
and Sharp televisions. But the company also makes many
sophisticated high-tech components used in automobiles and
automated teller machines.
In the past two years, Hon Hai has successfully spun off several
operations including industrial motherboard maker Ennoconn, the
casing and mechanical component unit Eson Precision, the
light-emitting diode component unit Advanced Optoelectronic and
wireless chip packaging unit ShunShin Technology.
Also on Thursday, shareholders approved the company's plan to
increase its 2014 dividend to 3.80 New Taiwan dollars a share from
1.80 New Taiwan dollars.
The payout represents 43% of profit, up from 22% in 2013 but
still below the 60% average for Taiwan technology companies.
BlackRock Inc., the world's biggest asset manager, last year
privately called on Mr. Gou to increase the dividend by tapping the
company's cash pile of roughly $22 billion, The Wall Street Journal
reported in December.
Write to Lorraine Luk at lorraine.luk@wsj.com
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