Acer Inc., a major Taiwan PC manufacturer, yesterday reported earnings per share (EPS) of NT$0.02 for the second quarter, lower than market expectations and the NT$0.12(S$0.01) for the first quarter.

The EPS were based on net profit of NT$56 million during the April-June period.

The company gave the numbers during its online investors' conference yesterday, where Acer reported second-quarter consolidated revenue of NT$110.55 billion, a slight drop of 2.2 per cent from the first quarter and a growth of 8.3 per cent from the same period last year.

Operating profit for the April-June period was NT$433 million, a strong rise of 213.5 per cent from the first quarter. Operating profit margin was 0.4 per cent, higher than the 0.1 per cent for the first.

Yet the firm had to account for a one-time European tax payment of NT$410 million, which impacted second-quarter net profit and earnings per share.

The company attributed the second-quarter sales decline to a dwindling of the global PC market, which led to slowed demands in Europe, the United States, China and the Asia Pacific.

"Sales were lower than the first quarter, despite the fact Acer PC shipments enjoyed steady growth in the last quarter," the company said.

For the first half, Acer had consolidated revenue of NT$223.58 billion, a decline of 2.7 per cent from the same period last year. Operating profit was NT$570 million, or a margin of 0.3 per cent. Net profit was NT$387 million, which was an improvement from the same period in 2011 and translated into earnings per share of NT$0.14.

As for the third quarter, Acer pointed out that sales would increase in August and September, on shipments of personal computers powered by the new Windows 8 operating system.

Overall, third-quarter sales would remain the same as second quarter, it said.