UMC performs unexpectedly well during first quarter

United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電), the world's second-largest contract chipmaker, said yesterday that revenues last month and in the first quarter of this month were both up around 20 percent from the same periods last year.

Revenue for last month was NT$8.46 billion (US$261.75 million), up 20.65 percent from NT$7.01 billion in March last year, the company said in a statement.

Last month's sales were up 12.5 percent from the previous month, UMC said.

In the first three months of this year, UMC reported a revenue of NT$24.38 billion, 20 percent more than the NT$20.29 billion it recorded in the same period last year, the company said.

UMC supplies semiconductor chips to several of the biggest companies in the global high-tech sector.

Analysts said that the company's first-quarter performance was slightly better than had been expected.

``Our estimate for first-quarter revenue was about NT$23.3 billion to NT$23.9 billion, so the actual numbers were better due to strong demand for chips in communication devices,'' said Brian Lin, an analyst at Ta Ching Securities Co (大慶證券).

In late February, UMC told investors its performance might be weaker in the first quarter, a typically slow season for the global technology industry, as sales would fall 13-15 percent from the fourth quarter's NT$27.47 billion.

UMC's larger rival, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電), is to disclose its March revenue figures on Monday.

UMC shares rose 0.24 percent to NT$21.50 yesterday.