Update | Sunny Optical shares hit record after forecasting strong profit growth

Sunny Optical Technology’s stock price soared to a record high on Tuesday after the lens manufacturer issued a positive profit alert, predicting an increase by more than 120 per cent in profit attributable to its owners during the first half.

Shares of Sunny Optical, which makes lenses for handsets, digital cameras, vehicle imaging systems and security surveillance systems, closed 16.9 per cent higher to a record HK$92.45 after surging by as much as 17.6 per cent.

That dragged up shares of other smartphone components makers. Acoustic parts maker AAC Technology Holdings, which also supplies to Apple, jumped 6.8 per cent to HK$115.8 on Tuesday while South Korean company listed in Hong Kong, Cowell e Holdings climbed 10.7 per cent to HK$3.41. The Hang Seng Index rose for a seventh straight day, gaining 0.2 per cent on Tuesday, or 54.36 points, to 26,524.94.

“Positive companies’ earning results are outweighing the regulatory risks in China, so Hong Kong’s market is quite strong overall,” Linus Yip chief strategist for First Shanghai Securities said.

Sunny Optical’s substantial growth in first-half profit was mainly due to a strong year-on-year increase in shipments of handset lens sets, vehicle lens sets, and handset camera modules, the company’s chairman Ye Liaoning said in a statement after the market closed on Monday.

The growth was also boosted by higher average selling prices of “better product mix” and “better gross margins” for handset lens sets and handset camera modules, Ye said.