Taipei, Aug. 29, 2011 (CENS)--Taiwan’s leading stock-listed manufacturers of machine tools, including Goodway Machine Corp., Hiwin Technologies Corp., Tongtai Machine & Tool Co. and Shieh Yih Machinery Industry Co., made handsome profits in the first half of this year and will continue posting good business performance in the third quarter.

According to statistics compiled by the Taiwan Association of Machinery Industry (TAMI), Taiwan exported US$2.26 billion worth of machine tools in the first seven months of this year, up 46% year-on-year. Exports to the U.S., Germany and Turkey grew over 100% in the same period. With orders to fully occupy their production lines in the third quarter, many are beginning to settle orders for the fourth quarter.

TAMI president C.C. Wang said the domestic machinery industry’s efforts to achieve the production goal of NT$1 trillion this year will be affected by the insufficient supply of key components and the sharp appreciation of local currency against the U.S. greenback. Wang predicted the industry’s production value to reach between NT$950 billion and NT$1 trillion this year.

Goodway said it scored NT$2.921 billion in sales in the first half of this year, up 37% year-on-year from NT$2.132 billion. The company scored NT$179 million in after-tax earnings, or NT$1.83 per share, in the first half of this year, up 101% from a year earlier.

Tongtai saw cumulative sales hit a historic high of NT$4.264 billion in the first seven months of this year, up over 20% year-on-year. The company registered NT$1.27 in after-tax earnings per share in the first half of this year.

Shieh Yih, one of Taiwan’s largest manufacturers of pressing machines, posted NT$2.06 billion in consolidated sales for the first half of this year, up 38% year-on-year from NT$1.492 billion. The company scored NT$86.92 million in after-tax earnings, or NT$0.6 per share, in the first half of this year, up 80% year-on-year.

Hiwin, Taiwan’s largest manufacturer of linear-motion devices, raked in consolidated sales of NT$7.355 billion in the first half of this year, up 88.39% year-on-year from NT$3.904 billion. The company recorded NT$7.09 in after-tax earnings per share in the first half of this year, up 201% from NT$2.35 a year earlier.

With new production capacities available, Hiwin will challenge the status as the worlds’ second-largest manufacturer of ball screws and linear guideways in 2012.