Advanced Semiconductor Engineering Inc (ASE, 日月光半導體), the world’s largest IC packaging and testing firm, expects revenues to pick up by between 7 percent and 9 percent this quarter from three months earlier, driven by strong demand for smartphones and other electronics, a top company executive said yesterday.
The Kaohsiung-based company saw its net income expand 17 percent year-on-year to NT$3.97 billion (US$138.17 million) as its edge in copper wirebonding technology boosted market share and lowered costs.
The figures translated into an 18 percent decline from the preceding quarter mainly because of seasonality, while earnings per share -weakened from NT$0.80 to NT$0.65, the company’s data showed.
“We expect to see a large increase in demand for copper wirebonding, whose revenue alone may rise US$75 million to US$240 million in the second quarter,” ASE chief financial officer Joseph Tung (董宏思) told an investors’ conference.
Rising gold prices are driving customers to shift to copper wirebonding this quarter and beyond, allowing ASE to gain more market share and reduce costs, Tung said.
Growth momentum remains healthy for communications, automotive and consumer products, as well as in the computing market segment, and this is likely to boost ASE’s revenue by between 7 percent and 9 percent this quarter, he said.
Gold prices and foreign -exchange volatilities, however, may weigh on the company’s profitability after both beat the firm’s forecasts, Tung said.
Consolidated revenues totaled NT$46 billion from January to last month, falling 14 percent from the fourth quarter, but growing 23 percent from a year earlier, company data showed.
Gross margin stood at 23 percent last quarter, narrowing from 25.2 percent three months earlier and 23.5 percent for the same period last year.
“We don’t expect pricing pressure ahead with packaging and testing operations at near full capacity this quarter,” Tung said.
ASE, which set its full-year capital expenditures at between US$750 million and US$800 million, suspended its investment in factory facilities late in the first quarter in the wake of the disaster that struck Japan, a key material supplier, on March 11, Tung said.
The natural disaster and radiation crisis eroded about US$2 million to US$3 million of its revenue, or 1.5 percent to 2 percent of the total, Tung said, adding that supply constraints were no longer a serious concern as major Japanese partners would resume normal supplies this quarter.
“Power recovery appears on track, but the impact of potential power rationing during the summer remains to be seen,” he said.
ASE shares shed 1.19 percent to NT$33.30 at the close of trade on the local bourse yesterday, underperforming TAIEX’s 0.36 percent fall, Taiwan stock exchange data showed.
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