Print

Mail

wiki links

Advanced Semiconductor slips

"The reduction did not surprise us when it came in the slack first quarter. We believe we'll be on track to grow quarter on quarter for the remainder of the year."

Joseph Tung, Advanced Semiconductor's CFO

The nation's largest chip testing and packaging company, Advanced Semiconductor Engineering Inc (日月光半導體), yesterday reported a lower-than-expected quarterly earnings for the last quarter, but assured investors its upbeat outlook for this year.

During the January-March period, the company's earnings drop-ped 24 percent to about NT$1.64 billion (US$49.7 million), or NT$0.44 a share, from NT$2.15 billion in the final quarter of last year. In the first quarter of last year, the company posted a loss of NT$348 million.

First-quarter revenue dropped 7 percent to NT$17.22 billion quarter on quarter, but represented a 49-percent gain from a year ago.

To ease jitters about a possible industrial reverse, Advanced Semiconductor's chief financial executive Joseph Tung (董宏思) told investors yesterday that the decline was the result of a combination of seasonal factors and foundry production constraints that surfaced late last month.

"The reduction did not surprise us when it came in the slack first quarter. We believe we'll be on track to grow quarter on quarter for the remainder of the year," he said.

"We're still optimistic about the industry for this year," he said.

The Kaohsiung-based company will keep unchanged this year's sale target of adding additional 50 percent growth on the NT$57.31 billion posted last year, he added.

Tung's remarks came after the company's US bigger rival, Amkor Technology Inc, posted a disappointing profit for the first quarter on Wednesday, blaming weak demand for mobile phones. The bearish news has raised concern among investors about a possible industrial downturn after Amkor shares plunged nearly 30 percent on the NASDAQ index.

"We haven't seen similar soft demand," Advanced Semiconductor spokesman Richard Chang (張洪本) said.

Advanced Semiconductor and Siliconware Precision Industries Co (矽品) shares dropped 5 percent and 6.21 percent, respectively, to NT$28.5 and NT$28.7, on the TAIEX yesterday.

Advanced Semiconductor expects sales to expand at least 10 percent in the second quarter from the first three months and gross margin to rebound to 25 percent due to a price hike.

"The communications segment will be the main force to drive growth," Jason Chang said.

Meanwhile, Siliconware said its first-quarter profit climbed 1.7 percent to NT$1.4 billion on revenue of NT$8.25 billion.

Contribution from the communications sector increased to take 27 percent of Siliconware's total NT$8.25-billion revenue in the first three months, up from 20 percent, it said in a statement to the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
This story has been viewed 2490 times.