A very good morning to investors. Thank you for joining the Delta session today for our first quarter earnings call. I would like to introduce our top management from Delta Thailand who join virtual session today. Firstly, Mr. Victor Cheng, Chief Executive Officer. Secondly, Ms. Nipaporn Jiarajareevong, Chief Financial Officer. My name is Anchalee Jieratham from Investor Relations.
Without further ado, I would like to hand over to Mr. Victor Cheng to begin the presentation today.
Good morning. My name is Victor Cheng, and I will start with the session with a executive summary. Delta Thailand start the year 2026 with Q1 record revenue of $1.945 billion, and profit of $286 million, up 56.2% and 70.7% respectively year-over-year. Growth was driven mainly by strong orders, high output, and expanded capacity, with data center products remaining the key drivers amid rising demand. Geopolitical tensions are increasing energy risk and market uncertainty. However, strong AI-driven demand continues to support Delta's outlook with ongoing investment in AI infrastructure and data center expansion, creating opportunities in power, cooling, and the advanced electronic hardware.
Global economic growth is expected to slow slightly, driven by prolonged geopolitical conflicts alongside broad macroeconomic pressure, such as inflation, tighter financial conditions, and trade issues. Despite these near-term pressure on global industries from rising energy cost, inflation, and delayed investment amid geopolitical uncertainties, Delta Thailand remains cautiously optimistic. Strong confirmed orders and favorable market conditions for AI and data center-related product and solution continue to support resilient growth despite higher cost and supply chain risks. First with the overall business market outlook. Global economy is disrupted by the conflict in Middle East. According to IMF April 2026 update, global real GDP growth is projected to slow to 3.1% in 2026. Global inflation is expected to rise slightly to 4.4% in 2026 and decline to 3.7% in 2027.
The outlook could improve if AI-driven productivity gains accelerate or trade tension ease substantially. According to Bank of Thailand's February/March 26th update, electronic export, particularly computer parts and telecommunication equipment, perform well. Although overall sentiment has softened since March amid weaker demand expectations. Thailand has positioned itself as a key semiconductor hub in the global supply chain, supported by major investment incentive from Board of Investment, so-called BOI, its national semiconductor strategy and workforce development to prepare for a new wave of foreign direct investment, totaling at least THB 500 billion by 2039. The prolonged Iran war is increasing geopolitical uncertainty, leading businesses to delay investment and hiring while slowing overall growth. At the same time, rising energy and input cost are creating inflationary pressures and squeezing material margins, I'm sorry, across industries.
For our business outlook, first in the Thailand market. Thailand remains a key contributor to industrial automation business in Q1 2026, driven by demand in the electronic assembly sector. Growth was supported by a project with industry leaders and continued adoption of industrial automation and IIoT solutions. While revenue declined 23.9% quarter-over-quarter, performance increased significantly year-over-year with a 114.3% increase, reflecting sustained momentum and market expansion. Energy infrastructure business delivered strong growth in Q1 of this year, with revenue increasing 213% year-over-year. Performance was driven by improved project execution timeliness and strong market condition. Growth was mainly driven by government initiative promoting renewable energy and grid modernization.
In India business deliver good performance in Q1 2026, achieving around 20% year-on-year growth, supported by strong order wins across industrial automation, data center, and energy infrastructure segment. Key highlight include major project wins in telecom, data center, railway, and battery energy storage system application. Performance remained resilient despite pricing pressure and regulatory changes, with growth driven by ongoing infrastructure expansion and demand for integrated power and industrial solutions. For Southeast Asia and Australia and New Zealand market, industrial automation business saw mixed performance in Q1 2026, with revenue declining 15% quarter-on-quarter, but growing 40% year-on-year. Growth was driven by demand in the electronic assembly sector, particularly AI server and PCB manufacturing. Branded products contribute 70% of revenue, led by core automation solutions, while solution business expand across equipment automation and smart manufacturing.
Performance was supported by key market in Thailand, Vietnam, despite pricing pressure from competition from China and Japan. For the information communication technology, the so-called ICT business, Q1 2026 performance was supported by strong growth in Australia, driven mainly by cloud data center and telecom segment. Partially offsetting decline in other market, overall revenue decreased 9% quarter-on-quarter due to reduced project rollout and demand normalization across Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, and the Philippines following a strong Q4 2025 performance. Delta regional growth momentum remains strong with new partners and customer acquisition. For European market, automotive business in Q1 2026 remains stable with slight quarter-on-quarter growth, is supported by a steady EV production across European OEMs. Demand for onboard power system continue to grow, driven by support, supportive government incentive and expansion of charging infrastructure.
Growth was further enforced by new business awards and ongoing development of advanced onboard power units, strengthening Delta's position with key European customers. In Q1 2026, the industrial and medical business recorded slight growth quarter-over-quarter and exceeds budget, is supported by strong demand and market share gains despite seasonal softness and emerging material shortage linked to AI-driven supply constraints. In the infrastructure and electric vehicle business, expanding wireless charging solutions and growing customer interest alongside recovering demand from key account are expected to sustain growth momentum through 2026. On the award and recognition side, Delta Electronics (Thailand) was listed on Clean200. This is a global ranking company, list generating significant clean revenue under rigorous assessment. This marks the second consecutive year of recognition, reflecting its commitment to the clean energy transition.
Delta Electronics received the 2025 Gold Star Award for both its Bangpoo Industrial Estate and Wellg row Industrial Estate facilities. This achievement marks the sixth consecutive year the company has maintained the outstanding performance in factory management, environmental responsibility, energy efficiency, and community engagement. On the operations side, first of all, with some sustainable development report, Delta Electronics Thailand collaborate with key public health organization to strengthen employee well-being through the Open House Wellness Activity 2026, promoting a holistic health and proactive care for employees. The company has elevated its on-site medical facility into a comprehensive wellness center, providing healthcare services aligned with public medical standards. The initiative reflects Delta Thailand's long-term commitment to proactive health promotion, integrating physical, mental, and emotional well-being into workplace welfare systems for its workforce.
On the business side, Delta Electronics (Thailand) collaboration with the Department of Industrial Promotion, DIPROM, under the Ministry of Industry into its 11th year, will continue to support Delta and DIPROM Angel Fund 2026 through innovation and mentorship, aiming to strengthen Thailand's startup ecosystem and accelerate innovative-driven economy growth by providing funding support and facilitate business matching for proof of concept activities under the theme Angel Fund: Scaling Commercial Ventures. The initiative enables startup to work closely with private sectors and industrial partners to test and refine innovative solution in the real market environment before scaling commercially. In terms of business partnership, Delta Electronics (Thailand) signed a memorandum of understanding with Yarra Power Company Limited, a provider of clean energy distribution and installation service on March 9, 2026.
This joint collaboration aim to capture new business opportunities and support a growing demand for efficient, reliable, and advanced technologies in Thailand. Delta will work closely with Yarra Power to deliver a broader range of solutions covering energy infrastructure and ICT infrastructure product and solutions. For productionIn Q1 2026 production output saw a significant improvement with Delta Thailand production increased by 69% year on year. This support are supported by a demand ramp up. Operation revenue was up 58% year on year mainly driven by power supply related products. In Q1 Delta's production performance in India slightly exceeds budget achieving 1.3% above target overall. Growth were driven by healthy performance at the Rudrapur and Gurgaon sites which outperformed budget by 11.8% offsetting a small shortfall at the Krishnagiri site.
Growth is expected to continue in Q2 of the year. I pass it to our CFO.
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The first question is regarding the revenue for the first quarter of 2026 whether or not that revenue has been based on the production that utilize Delta Electronics (Thailand)'s own patent or not.
Yes, there are some products that are designed by Delta Electronics (Thailand)'s engineering team. Our engineering resources are located in Germany and Thailand and a small portion in China. The product lines being manufactured here come from these teams, at least some of them. That's the reason that we also have seen some royalty revenues where these products are being manufactured by Delta group in Taiwan or China. We collect royalties from our Delta group for the product that we, I mean Delta Electronics (Thailand) designed.
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Next question is regarding the product transfer pipeline from Taiwan to Thailand.
Are there majority of that what sort of products that is related to AI?
Most of the AI related products being transferred from our parent group, whether from Taiwan or from China, were mostly power products. Going forward, we start seeing some thermal solution related product lines being transferred to Thailand. It start with the components of the system, the liquid cooling, for example, CDUs and the some of the larger fan assemblies. We see we're starting production for this type of product lines and eventually we will be seeing more full system assembly in Thailand. That will probably take a little time as we are preparing our facility to accommodate these larger dimension systems.
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Next question is related to our royalty fee. Are there chances to increase more?
That's a royalty fee, charge on that.
Yes. Yes, royalty charge.
It will mainly depends on the product mix. As we look forward this year, we do expect to see the royalty fees as a total number of dollar amount will increase for sure. This is due to increased revenue. In terms of percentage, probably we'll see either about the same level as Q1 or slightly increase. Every year we continue to update the royalty fee to meet the a fair market arm's length rate, and our third party CBA firm is continuous doing this on an annual basis. We accept expect changes in these fee percentage. Looking at the current situation, probably we'll see a little bit of a increase to pretty flat percentage wise.
For total amount, for sure, because the revenue is increasing and the transfer of products to Thailand is increasing. That absolute amount, dollar amount is expected to increase for sure.
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Next question. Congratulations on impressive first quarter results. The question is, what would be your revised guidance on revenue growth for this year and next? Second question, gross margin widened sharply in the first quarter. Do you see further room for improvement? What would be your guidance on gross margin for the rest of the year?
Okay. In terms of revenue growth guidance and margin guidance, we don't provide specific numbers. It is our target to achieve a consistent double-digit growth over the next several years continuously. As we see that the revenue base has increased quite a bit, the margin itself basically depends on product mix. Right now we do see pretty healthy mix of product lines that will probably keep up at the current level. Another reason of course is scale. As we sort of fully utilize the production capacity for our power related product capacity, that the amount of production costs in those areas, as a percentage of overall revenue tends to decrease. That give us the competitiveness in the market and also generate healthy gross margin.
Finally is cost control on material. We do see some pressure on especially chemicals, which is mostly petroleum derivative chemicals. Those are on the rise right now. Right now it's not really have any material impact to our bottom line. If the conflict prolongs and this, these lines of chemicals continue to see price increase, and we eventually see other components probably also on the rise, and then we will have to reevaluate the overall condition. Suffice to say right now, things are still quite healthy.
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Next question is related to our CAPEX for 2026. How much is that? What are the areas of investment that we are spending on?
The CAPEX projected for 2026 is about $ 550 million plus 10% buffer. I think that level is still the current plan and that will spend mainly on new factory building and machinery and test equipment for various production lines. Right now the capacity for power is near full and we are turning on new factories since end of last year. This year we already have opened two new factory in our Bangpoo Industrial Estate site and we expect to increase one more by later part of this year, probably late Q3. Next year we'll add two more factories. The capital expenditures will focus on buildings and the production line that we will furnish for these new facilities.
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This question is related to the near term business outlook for your second quarter as well as the latest SET announcement that we have. I think it refers to land acquisition that we have been recently announced.
Also whether we have any plans on that to sort of capitalize on the current business. What is the major business target for this year?
Like I previously said, the target this year in terms of business direction is to meet the operational demand. The product demand from data center related business has not decreased. It's increasing actually. We are opening new facilities to meet the increased demand. The investment in addition to what we are spending in Thailand, we are also expanding our facilities in India, and also we acquire yesterday we announced acquisition plan to buy a new piece of land in our Slovakia operation. This is also to again meet demand for local production for both European and Middle East businesses potentials. This year's target basically is very much operational oriented to meet the growing demand and make sure our ramp up will be smooth and can match with our customers need.
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Victor, y ou have an address the near term outlook for the Q2?
Q2 outlook will be I would say positive. I think again year-on-year we said double-digit growth and fortunately for Q1 we already seeing a fairly strong double-digit growth and momentum at this point looks to be good. We look at the near future potential with very optimistic views. We have to be cautious as well for sure because of the disruption in Middle East supply chain constraint and so on. Like I said, the focus will be to meeting the operational results. That's both from production material management point of view.
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Next question is regarding how far ahead we have the visibility over the order status.
Typically with our large customers for any given program, they will give us a rough scope of the volume and then on a rolling base we will be provided with six months rolling forecast. Because of the key component lead time usually is about three months anyway. Within three months the order is more or less firm. That's currently the way we work with our customers.
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Next question: how much contribution of Delta Thailand towards the Delta Taiwan overall revenue. How many percent?
Okay, 2025 wise, we did $6 billion of revenue and Delta Taiwan's consolidated revenue was a little short of $18 billion. This is all in U.S. dollar denominator denomination. We are about one third of the overall Delta group.
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This question is specific to liquid cooling.
Have we kickstarted and make delivery and shipment to the customer already?
As I have previously said, we start making the cooling solutions in addition to fan products. Now we are involved in cooling solution, key subsystems. That's like the CDU, the cooling distribution unit, and also the manifold which distribute the liquid in the cooling system. Those are considered key components and we are starting manufacturing of these products in Thailand now.
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This is the last question regarding the pressures on rising raw material cost and transport cost.
What is our mitigation strategy and also are we able to pass on this cost increase to the customer?
Well, I think the big commodity costs, the crude oil, natural gas is passed along into many many different fundamental costs. Like I said, chemical is the first that we have experienced a price increase from those suppliers because from their supply base, this is the big basic material that has already seen significant price increase. When it translates to us in our usage of this chemical is still fairly small, you know, sub 1%, sub is fraction of a, you know, small percentage and it's not that significant yet. But if this price increase and shortage continue prolonged basis, we'll see more and more different component and commodities seeing price increase pressure. Of course, to a point we can negotiate with our customer and transfer some of the price increase. I mean cost increase into price increase.
That's a mechanism that's well established and recognized. In terms of transportation, that's also very much related to fuel cost. That will have to be negotiated with the customer. In the COVID period that we have seen that skyrocketed. Again, similarly, if it goes beyond certain threshold and become of a material impact to us, we definitely go to our customer and negotiate that part. I would say part of our products are FOB based, so we do not we're not concerned with the transportation cost. Customer pick that up. There are some percentage of our customer it's on the landed base. For those customers, we definitely will have to observe the change and then see whether it's appropriate to start a negotiation with the amount of transportation cost increase.
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