Thai Cal-Comp Q1 net profit down 13 pct

BANGKOK, May 13 (Reuters) - Cal-Comp Electronics (Thailand) PCL CCET.BK said on Tuesday its first-quarter net profit fell 13 percent, below forecasts, as it sold more low-margin products.

Cal-Comp, a unit of Taiwan's Kinpo Electronics (2312.TW: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), posted a net profit of 617 million baht ($19 million), or 0.16 baht per share, down from 719 million a year earlier.

Five analysts polled by Reuters had forecast an average net profit of 650 million baht.

First-quarter sales rose 10.3 percent to 23.4 billion baht due to rising orders for computer equipment, printed circuit board assembly (PCBA) for hard disk drives and mobile phone products, it said in a statement.

Gross margin fell to 4.73 percent from 5.01 percent a year earlier due to an increasing proportion of low margin PCBAs for hard disk drives, it said.

Cal-Comp's major rivals include Singapore's Venture Corp (VENM.SI: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz)

Before the earnings announcement, Cal-Comp shares were unchanged at 5.80 baht as the main Thai index .SETI was down 0.35 percent. ($1 = 32.20 baht) (Reporting by Khettiya Jittapong; Editing by David Holmes)