Chip manufacturer back on track with healthy quarter

Advanced Semiconductor Engineering Inc (ASE, 日月光), the world's largest provider of IC packaging and testing services, yesterday reported net income of NT$1.588 billion (US$47 million) for the third quarter.

The figure is down from NT$1.96 billion a year earlier, but up from a net loss of NT$9.094 billion in the previous quarter, the company said in a statement.

Earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter were NT$0.35, compared to an EPS of NT$0.44 a year earlier and loss per share of NT$2.08 for the second quarter.

Gross margins, meanwhile, climbed to 18.6 percent for the quarter from 11.4 percent during the previous quarter, and the figure is expected to rise above 20 percent for the fourth quarter, chief financial officer Joseph Tung (董宏思) told an investors' conference yesterday.

"We are very pleased with our operating results for the third quarter," Chairman Jason Chang (張虔生) said in the statement. "After the fire at our facilities in Chungli (中壢) in May, the management team took a series of initiatives aimed not only at recovering the loss of business momentum caused by the accident, but also at improving our overall business efficiency."

The fire at the Chungli plant caused around NT$8.7 billion in damage.

"The interruption in production caused by the accident was predominantly contained within one quarter and current production has already exceeded pre-fire levels," Chang said.

IC packaging accounted for the largest share of net revenues for the quarter with 68 percent, followed by testing at 20 percent and module assembly with 11 percent, the statement said.