Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to all our viewers online. Today, VTech Holdings is announcing its results for the 6-month end of 30 September 2025. Let me introduce our management: Mr. King Pang, Executive Director and Group President; Mr. Allan Wong, Chairman and Group CEO of VTech Holdings; Mr. Andy Leung, Executive Director and CEO of Contract Manufacturing Services; and Ms. Shereen Tong, Group Chief Financial Officer. First of all, Ms. Tong will present the group financial performance. Next, Mr. Leung will talk about our costs and review the group operations in North America and Europe. Mr. Pang will then cover the rest of the segment results and give management outlook for the rest of the financial year. We will finish our presentation with a Q&A session. Now, may I invite Ms. Tong to open today's presentation? Ms. Tong, please.
Thank you, Grace. Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, and all viewers online. First of all, I would like to share with you the financial highlights of the group for the six-month end of 30 September 2025, compared with the same period of the last year. As you see from the slide, the revenue of the group reduced by 9% to $991.1 million. It was mainly due to the decrease in revenue in all regions. The gross profit of the group reduced by 8.1% to $315.8 million. Our gross profit margin, however, improved from 31.5% - 31.9%. The increase in gross profit margin was mainly due to the lower cost of materials, favorable change in product mix, increase in selling prices, stronger European currency against U.S. dollar, as well as the lower freight charges compared with the same period of the last year.
This offset the additional tariffs imposed on the products imported into the US and the higher direct labor costs driven by the increase in minimum wages in China and Malaysia during the period. Our operating profit reduced by 10.8% to $92.9 million, and our operating profit margin also reduced from 9.6%- 9.4%. The decrease in operating profit and operating profit margin was mainly due to the lower gross profit as well as the higher operating expenses as a percentage of the gross revenue compared with the same period of the last year. Our profit attributable to shareholders of the company reduced by 14.5% to $74.7 million, and our net profit margins also reduced from 8% to 7.5%.
The lower net profit and net profit margin was mainly due to the lower operating profit and operating profit margin, as well as the higher gross effective tax rate arising from the implementation of BEPS Pillar 2 income tax rules with minimum level tax rate at 15% in each of the jurisdictions where the group operates. As a result, our basic earnings per share reduced by 14.7% to $29.5, and our Board of Directors has declared an interim dividend of $17, same as the last financial year. Turning to the revenue by region, our sales in North America reduced by 12.1% to $398.3 million. The decline in revenue was due to the lower sales of our electronic learning products and telecom products, which offset the higher sales of our contract manufacturing services. Europe was the largest market of the group, accounting for 43.3% of the group's revenue.
Our sales to the European market reduced by 7.2% to $429 million. It was mainly due to the lower sales of our contract manufacturing services, which offset the higher sales of our electronic learning products and telecom products. In the Asia-Pacific region, the revenue of the group reduced by 5.6% to $150.4 million. It was due to the lower sales of all our three product lines. Other regions include Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa. The gross revenue in other regions reduced by 11.3% to $13.4 million. The decrease in sales in other regions was due to the lower sales of our telecom products, which offset the higher sales of our electronic learning products. Our stock balance as of 30 September 2025 increased from $425.2 million to $431.0 million compared with the same period of the last year.
Our stock turnover days also increased from 129 days to 138 days. The higher stock level was mainly to cater for the higher demand of the gross product in the second half of the financial year and the seasonality of most of the gross business. Our trade deficit balance as of 30 September 2025 reduced from $481.9 million - $429 million, and our trade deficit turnover days also reduced from 63 days to 60 days compared with the same period of the last year. Our financial positions remain very strong with a debt-free. Our net cash balance as of 30 September 2025 was $147.9 million, a decrease of 1.5% as compared with the same period last year of $150.2 million. That's all of my presentation. I would now invite Mr. Andy Leung to share with you our operation review. Mr. Leung, please.
Thank you, Shereen, and welcome to all of you joining us today. As usual, we will begin with costs. The group gross profit margin in the first six months of the financial year 2026 was 31.9%, an improvement over the 31.5% recorded in the same period of last financial year. This was mainly attributable to the lower cost of material as material prices decreased during the period. A more favorable product mix, increase in product price, stronger European currency against U.S. dollar, and the lower freight charges also contributed to the higher margins. These gains were partially offset by the higher tariffs and direct labor costs. We now turn to the review of our operation in each region. We begin with North America, where group revenue decreased by 12.1% to $398.3 million. Higher sales of CMS were offset by decline in ELP and telecom products.
North America was our second-largest market, accounting for 40.2% of the group revenues. ELP revenue in the region fell by 25.4% to $167 million. This was mainly attributable to changes in U.S. tariff policies. In April this year, the U.S. announced substantial tariff increases on Chinese imports before reducing them on 12 May 2025. In response, we put shipment on hold to the U.S. for several weeks. Prices were also raised for products sold to the U.S. market, while retailers delayed their stores for the autumn season. This negatively impacted both orders and in-store sales during the first half of the financial year 2026. Meanwhile, sales in Canada also posted a decline. Nonetheless, in the first nine months of the calendar year 2025, VTech maintained its leadership in electronic learning toys from infants through toddlers to preschool in the U.S. and Canada.
In standard-owned products, sales declined mainly because of the lowest shipment to the U.S. Core learning product category and key products all posted sales decreases for both the VTech and LeapFrog brands. Platform products also saw a sales decline. Those of LeapFrog rose, driven by continuous growth of Magic Adventures Globe and the launch of a brand new product, the award-winning LeapMove. There was also a contribution from LeapStart Reading Buddies. Subscriptions to LeapFrog Academy were stable. Sales of VTech brand declined largely due to lower sales of Kidizoom Smartwatch and Touch & Learning Activity Desk. Telecom product revenue in North America fell by 8% to $84.8 million. Sales of residential phones declined as the market continues to contract. During the first six months of the financial year 2026, VTech remained the number one cordless phone brand in the U.S. market. Sales of commercial phones were down.
Higher sales of hotel phones and seat phones were unable to offset lower sales of multi-line analog phones and headsets. Growth in the hotel phone category was boosted by increasing sales of next-gen product line. Sloan brand seat phone also recorded higher sales, offsetting a decline in order from a customer. Multi-line analog phones posted sales declines as the product reached the end of their life cycle. The transfer of production by customer to the group Gigaset facility in Germany resulted in lower sales of headsets. Other telecommunication products reported an increase. However, as higher sales of baby monitors and IoT products offset a decline in care-like residential phones, baby monitors saw sales rise as a result of increasing sales at the major retailer, while IoT products posted higher sales of thermal steps for hotel channels. In contrast, care-like residential phones experienced lower demand.
During the first six months of the financial year 2026, VTech maintained its position as the number one baby monitor brand in the U.S. and Canada. CMS revenue in North America rose by 6.9% to $146.5 million. Growth was led by professional audio equipment as customers worked through their excess inventory and new customers were added. Especially, rebounds in orders were seen in professional loudspeakers. Industrial products also posted growth. Orders for PCBA for vending machines grew as employers began to demand a return to office-based working. Those of IoT products also increased. This was driven by rising orders for smart basketball hoop game consoles, which have been well received by consumers and are now being sold by major retailers. This was despite lower sales of smart water leakage detectors as the customer experienced over-inventory. Sales of solid-state lighting is stable.
In addition, it was announced that VTech had maintained its position as the world number one contract manufacturer of professional audio equipment in the calendar year 2024. Turning now to Europe, group revenue in the region decreased by 7.2% to $429 million in the first six months of the financial year 2026 as higher sales of ELP and telecommunication products were offset by lower CMS sales. Europe remains our largest market, accounting for 43.3% of the group revenue. ELP revenue in Europe increased by 5.5% to $144.6 million with higher sales of both standalone and platform products. The growth was driven by new product launches and the strengthening of European currency against the U.S. dollar. Sales were higher in France, Spain, and the Netherlands, offsetting decline in the U.K. and Germany.
In the first nine months of the calendar year 2025, VTech remained the number one infant and toddler toy manufacturer in France, the U.K., Germany, Spain, the Netherlands, and Belgium. In standalone products, LeapFrog sales were higher, while VTech sales were stable. Growth for LeapFrog was mainly driven by infant and the Magic Adventure products. This offset declines in the preschool category, while sales of eco-friendly toys held steady. VTech saw sales increase in preschool products, electronic learning aids, and the Kidi line. This was insufficient to compensate for the declines of infant and toddler products: Kidizoom Smartwatch, Switch & Go Dino, Marble Rush, and eco-friendly toys. In platform products, higher sales of LeapFrog brand offset lower VTech brand sales. Growth in LeapFrog products came largely from the newly launched LeapMove and LeapStart Reading Buddies, as well as higher sales of Magic Adventures Globe.
VTech saw sales of Kidizoom Smartwatches, children's educational tablets, and Touch & Learn Activity Desk decline, while those of [KittyKong] were stable. Revenue from telecom products in Europe increased by 24.5% to $105.2 million. Sales of residential phones, commercial phones, and smartphones increased, while those of other telecommunication products remained steady. In residential phones, growth was mainly driven by increasing sales of Gigaset products. The Comfort 550 and A690 models continued to sell well as their industrial design and feature set meet market needs. Sales performed especially well in Germany, France, and Italy. We also started selling Gigaset residential phones in Eastern Europe. As a result, Gigaset increased its market share and retained its number one position in the tech phone market in Europe.
To broaden the brand residential phone portfolio, we had developed a new entry-level phone model, which began hitting the shelves in the major European countries in September. Sales of commercial phones and smartphones also increased, driven primarily by higher order from a customer and rising sales of Sloan-branded seat phones, which benefited from the introduction of the D8 series. Sales of Gigaset multi-cell DAC system were stable, while Gigaset smartphone registered growth. Sales of other telecommunication products in Europe held steady during the period. Higher sales of CAT-iq headsets offset lower sales of baby monitors. The growth in CAT-iq headsets was driven by higher orders from a customer. Sales of baby monitors declined mainly because of lower sales of the U.K. market. CMS revenue in Europe decreased by 25.5% to $179.2 million, mainly because of lower sales of hearables.
The hearable customer faced keen competition, and market demand had dropped substantially since the end of the COVID pandemic. Sales of medical and health products trended lower, and demand for hearing aids returned to normal after strong growth in the previous financial year, while that for hair removal products held steady. Home appliance sales were lower, driven by fewer orders for PCBA for washing machines. IoT products were affected by lower orders for smart meters and internet-connected thermal steps and air conditioning controls. Sales of smart energy storage systems declined as orders reduced following the removal of subsidies by the Swedish government. By contrast, sales of communication products rose as orders for Wi-Fi routers increased following new launches and a reduction in customer inventory. Orders for automotive products also increased as we captured additional EV chargers business from competitors. Sales of professional audio equipment, meanwhile, remained stable.
I will now turn over to King. Thank you.
Thank you, Andy. Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. In Asia-Pacific, group revenue fell 5.6% to $150 million, representing 15.2% of overall group revenue. All three product lines declined. ELP's revenue decreased 5.6% to $33.4 million. Sales in Australia were flat. LeapFrog grew, but VTech declined. During the first nine months of 2025, VTech remained the number one learning toy brand for infants through toddlers and preschool in Australia. In China, sales dropped mainly due to lower orders from a major customer. Telecommunication products' revenue fell 8.2% to $8.9 million. This is driven by lower baby monitor sales in Australia. Sales in Japan were stable. CMS revenue declined 5.4% to $108 million. Sales increased in professional audio equipment were insufficient to offset decreases in medical and health products, as well as communication products.
In professional audio equipment, sales increased as a major customer pulled orders forward amid tariff uncertainties. In medical and health products, sales declined as customers for diagnostic ultrasound systems lost market share. In communication products, sales of marine radios fell as Japanese customers further moved production in-house to capitalize on their weak currency. Other regions saw revenue down 11.3% to $13.4 million, representing 1.3% of overall group revenue. ELPs rose 5.3% to $8 million, with higher sales in Latin America and Africa. Telecommunication products fell 28% to $5.4 million. Sales dropped in Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa. CMS revenue in this region was immaterial. Next, we turn to our outlook. Global business conditions remain challenging. Settled with geopolitical tensions, tariff uncertainty, and fragile consumer confidence, customers are cautious in placing orders. As a result, full financial year group revenue is still forecast to decline.
Nevertheless, second-half sales are expected to improve over the first half, led by ELPs and telecommunication products. Full financial year gross margin is expected to stay stable. ELP's revenue is forecast to improve in the second half, supported by a rebound in the U.S. and continued growth in Europe. Full year sales, however, are still expected to be lower than last year. Our holiday products have already been shipped to the U.S. New launches, including LeapMove, LeapStart Reading Buddies, and Explore and Write Deluxe Activity Desk, are on shelves, backed by strong marketing. In Europe, momentum is expected to continue in the second half. In Asia, China is forecast to improve in the second half. Australia is projected to remain stable. Telecommunication products are on track for full year growth. Drivers include residential phones, commercial phones, and smartphones in Europe, as well as other telecommunication products in the U.S.
In residential phones, new entry-level Gigaset phones are now available in key European markets. In commercial phones and smartphones, new products and higher orders from customers drive growth. Sales of Sloan-type seat phones are forecast to remain stable. In other telecommunication products, AI-enabled baby monitors will launch in the US in the fourth quarter. CMS revenue is forecast to decrease for the full financial year. Many product categories are expected to remain in decline in the second half. We are expanding our manufacturing capacity in Malaysia. A new building is being added at the existing MOA site to be completed mid-2027. At the same time, we are also exploring ODM opportunities. This concludes our presentation. We're now glad to answer your questions.
Thank you, King. If you wish to ask a question, please use the raise hand feature, which is under the menu item React or Reaction in Zoom, and make sure your camera is turned on. If you are invited to ask a question, please accept the prompt to unmute your line. The first question comes from Citic Securities Mr. Li please go ahead.
Yeah. Dear all managers, thank you for the opportunity to ask questions. I'm going to raise about two questions. The first one is about the new electronic learning products. We observed that the LeapMove products and some new products have launched in the third quarter in 2025, and it's happy to see that the growth can largely be from these new products. I want to ask, how do you see the growth prospects of these new offerings going forward? Is there potential for them to become larger core products?
Also, are there any flagship new products launch pipelines to share in the future? It's the first question. The second question also comes about electronic learning products. I want to ask, could future products potentially integrate with AI? Are there any strategic development goals or visions for the AI electronic learning products development? What stage is the development of AI currently in? Are there any progress updates to share? Thank you.
Okay, I will ask Mr. King Pang to answer your questions.
Thank you, Mr. Li, for your questions. If I have picked up accurately, your first question is about the new ELP products launched this year. We are reporting that they're driving growth. Your question was whether we expect them to drive even higher growth in the future. The answer is yes.
Okay, most of these new products, they are what we call platform products. The LeapMove, for example, normally we launch the first year with the hardware and as much content as we can. Okay, and then in subsequent years, we will refine, improve the hardware, and then keep pumping out contents. Okay, and in our history, with this kind of products, once we have a successful launch, it will have several years of good sales and especially good content sales. Let's hope LeapMove is in such a category. Whether there are other new products, every year we launch many new products. Okay, I'm not privy to--I'm not limited to specify exactly how many, but we are talking about close to, if not exceeding, 100 new products. Okay, we will definitely continue to launch new products, and some of them are major products like LeapMove.
Okay, and normally our new products, they will be—the first time we announce them would be at the major toy shows. I am sure Grace and our PR and Corporate Marketing colleagues will share with our investors as soon as information is available. Yes, we have a slew of new products that are waiting to be launched next year. The second question is about AI. Continuing on my point, it is too early for me to say whether we are launching or not launching new AI products with AI next year. Hopefully in a few months we can tell you about it. What I can assure our investors is that we have been working on using AI to develop products, writing codes, doing creative design, as well as products that have AI features in them.
Okay, and we have products like this in our development lab, and some of them have actually reached a stage of maturity that they can actually be launched. Like I said, I'm not liberated to say whether we have already—the we are already in the process of launching one and how many are we launching. Hopefully in a few months we can share with you more about it.
Mr. Li, you have moved your line. Do you have any follow-up questions? Okay. Okay, that's good. The next question comes from Luke Skin of GCIS. Luke , you can go ahead.
Thank you. Two questions. One, toys in the U.S., to what extent can you recover lost sales in the second half? Do you see any gain in momentum? The second question is phones in Europe.
From my memory, turnover is still below, say, the half of the annual Gigaset sales historically. To what extent do we see further sales growth in phones in Europe in the second half? Maybe you could comment on the integration of Gigaset and the raising of synergies where we stand.
Okay. Hi. I'm the first one. Hi, Luke. How are you?
So far, so good. Thank you.
Yeah, we were a bit worried that you may not show up. Glad to see you. Good. Thank you. Toys in the U.S., like we have reported, when the first round of "additional tariffs" came, there was actually a period of several weeks that we shipped almost none or very, very little products. That is what drove the rather substantial drop in first-half sales.
Okay, and the fact is that retailers in the U.S., they've also pushed, they have actually delayed their store set. Normally, store sets happen in July and August, and this year stores are actually set in late September. Okay, but our products are there, like we have reported. Okay, and they are now on shelves, and we are seeing products like LeapMove having very good momentum with very good week-by-week sell-through growth. Okay, we have very, very big expectations for the coming several weeks, five, maybe six weeks. Whether we are going to be able to recoup all the lost sales, I am not liberated to say, but we have reported that overall in ELPs, we're still expecting full year financial sales lower than last year. Have I answered all your questions related to ELPs?
Yes, just phones now. Phones in Europe.
Yeah, let me answer this, Luke.
You rightly pointed out you do not see a lot of growth from the first half, particularly when you pointed out that the first half of last year of Gigaset is basically a startup sales. For this year, we have the advantage of having consolidating a kind of normal sales. As we have said in our Chairman statement, one of the most important products we will be launching will be the opening price point product that will go on the shelf in September that has been already on the shelf. That will drive sales for the second half, particularly on Europe phones. You will see that the second half of phones will see a bigger growth as compared to the same period last year. You also mentioned that how is the consolidation going on?
I think the consolidation between Gigaset and VTech is doing extremely well. In particular, the business phone, commercial phone section, we have signed quite a number of new contracts that would show up in terms of sales again starting in the second half. That would be our biggest potential going forward. Thank you.
Luke, any follow-up question? Is that okay?
No, all good. Thank you.
Okay, good. Our next question comes from Chalinda from Santa Lucia. Chalinda. Yeah. Please go ahead.
Yes. Thank you so much. I have three questions. The first question is, can you elaborate a bit on how you're dealing with the shift to Malaysia, like the update on the Malaysia production? Question number two is, can you quantify the tariff impact? Like how much, what is the rate that you are paying now? How much is the impact your overall?
The third question is, the current peak season cycle, how is it? How is the company doing during the peak season? Thank you so much.
Okay. Maybe I will answer the questions. If other directors have any supplement, please chip on. Our shift to Malaysia is doing well. Following the announcement of the Trump tariff in April, we have already in the process of moving some of the production of not only the telecommunication products, but also the ELP products to Malaysia. Of course, as you all know, that during April, when the tariff has gone up to astronomical level, we have stopped shipment to the US from China. That basically we have outlined that in our Chairman statement that it is one of the reasons why we have lost sales in the first half.
The Malaysian plant is up and running, okay, for both VTT and also the ELP division. Of course, I also have to mention that the CMS has been operating in Malaysia for the last five years, doing extremely well, and has been increasing production. It is also in the process of building new facilities that would eventually increase production even more. We are in the best position now in case if anything happens to China, although at this point in time, the tariff of most of our product going to US from China is 20% after Trump met with Xi a few weeks ago. Of course, we all know that I don't know how long it will last or will it, or Trump may change it overnight in short notice. Nobody knows.
We are in the best position that in case anything happens to China, we can quickly relocate our manufacturing from China to Malaysia on short notice. That is an advantage that we are a fully integrated, self-contained manufacturer. Okay, your second question is regarding the tariff impact. Now, I give you a general concept of what the tariff looks like because in April, the tariffs were up to 145%, and that is when we stopped our shipments to the US altogether. The tariff has since then been reduced to 30% from 135% for our products, for most of our products. Subsequently, at some point earlier, Trump announced that he would increase it to 100% again after eventually reducing it back to 20% after meeting with Xi.
At this point in time, most of our products, particularly also the toy product going from China to the U.S., is 20%, which is very similar to what Malaysia is having. Malaysia's product going to the US is 19%. Maybe I don't know whether Shereen has anything to add on this.
Regarding tariff impact, we also increased our price to offset part of the tariff impact. In the P&L, we reflect, as we mentioned, the gross profit margins, even though we have an improvement in gross profit margins, but there's still some negative impacts on our tariff. At the same time, we also increased the price for our products sold to the US already.
Y eah, your third question is how's sales going on during the peak selling season?
We are watching it closely on a day-to-day basis on the POS sales.
So far, as King had mentioned earlier, the ELP sales is looking good. Then the telephone sales, because we introduced an OPP product in September, we are also expecting higher sales coming from the telecommunication products. We are looking up, the peak selling season should be, so far, touch wood, we should be doing fine. Okay.
Chalinda, are you okay? Okay, we move to the next question. The next question comes from Ms. Tao Xiangming of Zheshang Securities. Ms. Tao, please go ahead.
Good afternoon, respected management team. I am Xiangming Tao from Zheshang Securities. Here I have two questions. The first one is the tariff impact gone and how is the progress of our overseas capacity construction? The second question is how to focus the dividend payout ratio in the future? Thank you. This is my question.
So as Mr. Wong has mentioned, and then you all know that right now the tariff rate in China's imports to the U.S. is 20%, and then Malaysia is 19%, just 1% delta. We still have factories in Malaysia, especially for contract manufacturing services. We will still keep our Malaysia factories for toys and for telecom as a backup because we do not know what will happen in the next, say, 12 months or beyond the next 12 months. We have this kind of, say, backup plan as our production capacity next to our China factory. As for our dividend payout ratios, we keep the income dividend, $0.17, same as last year. As for the full years, we still need to announce the full year result before we determine how much is the dividend payment.
But based on our historical, say, dividend payout ratio, it's talking about around, say, 19% or 99% our dividend payout ratio for the full year. For the interim, we just keep the U.S. cents same as last year, $0.17 .
Is it okay? Ms. Tao, is it okay?
Okay, thank you. Thank you so much.
Good. We move to the next question. The next question comes from Ethan Brooks. Ethan, please go ahead.
Yes, good afternoon. What guidance can you give us on CapEx spend for financial year 2026 and financial year 2027? Second question, how would you describe your M&A appetite post-Gigaset? Are you making any changes to your sourcing and evaluation process for acquisitions?
CapEx, maybe Shereen can answer this.
Okay, so in the first half of this fiscal year, our capital expenditure is $17 million, and our full year forecast CapEx for this fiscal year is talking about, say, $42 million, including the land and building and the leasehold improvement, especially for our Malaysia factories for our contract manufacturing services.
Okay, your second question is, if I hear correctly, is about M&A opportunities. Is that right?
Ethan, you can unmute yourself. Yes, Ethan said yes. M&A opportunities.
Yes, that's correct.
We are always looking for good M&A opportunities. We like what we did with Gigaset last year. So anything that would add to our product breadth, technology, and also additional distribution channel we will be interested. So we will constantly be looking for good deals.
Okay, thank you.
Good. The next question comes from, yeah, Cherry. Cherry, please go ahead. Hello, management.
Just a question with regards to margins and hopefully a restoration of profitability. Obviously, you've now, and you've always had for quite a long time in Malaysia versus China production facilities, but ultimately there's got to be a little bit of duplication at the moment to allow for that agility that you are putting in place. Just wanted to find out whether structurally now margins are likely to be lower based on the fact that you are going to be running parallel lines in China and Malaysia. Thank you.
Yes, I think it's a good question. At this point in time, when the tariff in Malaysia going to the US is almost the same, China is 20%, and then Malaysia is 19%. Malaysia generally has a little lower productivity compared to what we have in China.
The comparison is usually generalized to be about 6% difference in terms of cost of manufacturing. For products going to the US at this point in time, because of the same tariff generally, we will be making most products out of China going to the U.S. Of course, for Europe, where there is no tariff situation, everything will be manufactured in China. For CMS, maybe I will ask Andy Leung to say a few words on the Malaysian manufacturing and the cost difference between Malaysia and China.
Yes, for the case of CMS, we acquired a factory in Malaysia from Pioneer in 2018. As a result of the geopolitical conflict and U.S. tariffs, it has been in the expansion mode in the past few years. We are expecting the global trend of supply chain diversification will be continuous.
For this reason, the project of further expansion of the facility was started. Regarding the cost of running between China and Malaysia, I would say the cost is getting level and the cost difference is getting level. If you really want to tell a figure about the cost difference, I would say the overall cost in Malaysia is around 5% higher than that in China. In fact, the cost of running is not the major difference between China and Malaysia. The major difference is the productivity between the two areas. As China has a better, skillful labor and experienced management team, the production efficiency is a lot better for the case in China. After running the factory in Malaysia for a few years, we can see slightly gradually improvement in the productivity over there.
Okay, so your second point about whether there's any margin impact between having a Malaysian plant and China plant, I would say it's minimal. The impact is minimal.
Okay, any further questions from the audience? Okay, we have Charlie again from Santa Lucia. Charlie, please go ahead.
Thank you so much. Can you help me give some colors? What is the capacity of Malaysia as opposed to China's plant? How different is the capacities?
Okay. Okay, I think we can generally look at the Malaysian plant. If fully operational, we will be about 25%-30% of our total group capacity. So that's the general concept.
Okay, the next question comes from Eric Lau from Off City. Eric, please go ahead.
Hi, management. So actually, I'm in Shanghai and I joined the call late. Probably I'm not sure some of the questions have been covered already.
Say for the Gigaset sales, how much was it for the first half period? Number two is I'm quite surprised Asia-Europe, actually the sales decline more than single digit, even though no tariff impact, right? Even though I add back the Gigaset sales to Europe, actually probably the underlying European business drop even more than North America. I'm not sure if this is the case. May I know why the Europe is so bad, right, over the first half? You mentioned the second half, actually the sales full year still declined, but second half could be better. Say for the second half, actually should we expect the absolute dollar should be higher than the first half? Because actually usually the second half sales should be lower than the first half because of the seasonality.
For this year, should we expect the second half sales should be higher than the first half? Thank you.
Yeah, maybe Shereen can answer this.
As explained in our presentations regarding why in Europe the whole group revenue is dropped by around 7.2%, it is mainly because of the decline in revenue in contract manufacturing services. For our telecommunications product in Europe, actually it increased by around 24.5%, including Gigaset. As for our toys divisions, our sales in Europe also increased by around 5.5%. Actually after the acquisition of Gigaset, in the first half of the years, Gigaset's revenue actually contributed to the growth of our telecom division especially in Europe.
Right, can I have an idea what was the Gigaset sales during the first half?
Normally we will not disclose this kind of, say, separate between telecom, Gigaset, VTech, and AT&T. I can tell you that you can see for Europe, our telecom division's revenue increased by around, say, 24.5% is mainly driven by Gigaset. Of course, our business also increased in revenue in Europe using, say, Snowmobile.
Actually, virtually all of the Gigaset business is actually in Europe, right?
Mainly in Europe. They have some small sales in other regions, but the majority of the sales is in Europe.
Right. Yeah. Okay, okay. Can I post that the second half sales absolutely should be higher than first half, right, for the FY 2026?
You mean the whole group, right?
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah.
As what we have explained in the outlook, we also expect in the second half, our revenue will be higher than first half, mainly driven by the sales growth for our telecom and toys and ELP divisions. For contract manufacturing services, we expect the decline will continue.
Okay, my follow-up question is, you said actually 20% tariff on China, which includes, I know toys no Section 301 tariff, but how about the telecom product also has no Section 301 tariff, right?
For toys, before 10th of November, the tariff from China, for the tariff from China products imported to the U.S. is 30%. Only after, say, 10th of November, it reduced to 20% for toys. For telecom product, most of our telecom product tariff is 30%, and now reduced to 20%.
But some of our telecom products, we have around, say, 7.5% higher than the normal, say, 20% tariff. For those kind of products, we have already moved to Malaysia factory already.
All right, okay, okay. Thank you. No more questions, thank you.
Okay, thank you, Eric. Our last question comes from Luke Skin. Luke, you are the one asking the last question. Please go ahead.
Regarding the euro exposure of the group, to what extent does VTech now produce phones that are sold outside of Europe in Germany by Gigaset? And how is this affecting the euro exposure of the group? Historically, your long euros.
Yes, Luke, after we acquired the Gigaset factory last year, we are starting to produce Gigaset branded cordless phones in Europe, and they have been doing it for years. These are mainly limited to the middle and middle-high type of products.
They are doing it very well. The cost difference between producing in Europe and China is very similar. It's very similar. Because of the automation they have in the factory, they also produce mobile phones, smartphones in the factory. We are starting to produce other products as well, other products in the factory. Some commercial phones that some of our customers wanted to be produced in Germany for security reasons, those are also produced in Germany. In other words, the Gigaset factory is working out very well.
As you produce phones or products in Germany and sell it to the U.S. or to Asia, you're reducing the euro exposure of the group. VTech used to be long in euros because of the toy business. Now with the integration of Gigaset, I would expect that this euro exposure will shrink. Is this correct?
If so, by how much?
Correct. In fact, we have more euro exposure, but we are still by net income of euros too because of the. It is much larger. The ELP sales is much larger than the expense we have in Gigaset.
Gigaset exports, even let's say two-three years out, will not compensate the euro exports out of China.
It is too far out. I do not foresee that happening. China will still be our largest manufacturing site unless there are other factors affecting that. In the absence of any geopolitical uncertainty, we will still produce a bulk of our products in China, which at this point in time is still the most efficient manufacturing site.
Okay, thank you.
Thank you very much. That is all we have the time for today. Thank you for joining us today. Thank you very much.