Siliconware Precision Industries Co (矽品精密), the nation's second-biggest chip tester and packager, said yesterday its net income reached NT$17.51 billion (US$543 million) last year, or NT$5.78 earnings per share, up 31.34 percent from NT$13.33 billion in 2006.
Despite growing concern over the global economy, the company said it remained optimistic about prospects for this year, citing continued demand for handsets, PCs and consumer electronics as well as lower capital spending by major industry players, which results in stable prices.
In the fourth quarter, the company's net income dropped 5.36 percent to NT$4.79 billion from NT$5.06 billion in the previous quarter. Earnings per share were NT$1.57 for the quarter, the company said in a statement. Fourth-quarter revenue dropped 1 percent from the previous quarter to NT$17.73 billion, it said.
Siliconware shares have dropped 19.39 percent so far this year and closed at NT$47 yesterday on the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
Citigroup reiterated a buy rating on Siliconware, with a target price of NT$72, the US investment bank's analyst Andrew Lu (
The analyst said Siliconware's forecast of a decline of 10 to 13 percent in first-quarter sales from last quarter was in line with market estimates.
For this year, Lu said, the company may see 12 percent revenue growth from last year.
Without offering an exact prediction, Siliconware said this year's growth may slow from annual growth of 15 percent for last year.
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