Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s top contract chipmaker, yesterday reported a 16.1 percent monthly decline in revenue for last month on reduced customer inventory.
Revenue shrank to NT$37.11 billion (US$1.28 billion) last month, from November’s NT$44.25 billion, marking the weakest monthly revenue since March last year. Last month’s figure was an increase of 18.8 percent from NT$31.24 billion in the same period in 2011.
That brought the chipmaker’s fourth-quarter revenue to NT$131.3 billion, surpassing the company’s forecast range of NT$129 billion to NT$131 billion.
It also represented a quarterly 7.13 percent reduction from the third quarter’s record level of NT$141.38 billion.
TSMC chairman and chief executive officer Morris Chang (張忠謀) told investors in October that the company would experience a dip in revenue in the last quarter of last year and for this quarter because of customers’ reduced inventories.
For the whole year of last year, TSMC revenue grew 18.5 percent to a record high of NT$506.25 billion, compared with NT$427.08 billion in 2011.
Last year’s revenue figure slightly exceeded the NT$506.03 billion forecast by Credit Suisse analyst Randy Abrams, who upgraded TSMC’s rating to “out-perform” from “neutral” early last month.
Abrams expected TSMC’s revenue to expand at an annual rate of 18.7 percent to NT$600.76 billion this year, of which 5 percent would come from chip orders from Apple Inc.
The growth rate falls within TSMC’s target range, as Chang last month said that the company aimed to grow its revenue by an annual rate of 15 percent to 20 percent.
TSMC expects that advanced 28-nanometer chips will account for 30 percent of this year’s revenue.
Separately, Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd (鴻海精密), which assembles iPhones and iPads for Apple, yesterday reported record quarterly revenue of NT$988.38 billion on an unconsolidated basis for the fourth quarter of last year, after revenue rose 2.61 percent month-on-month last month.
Last month’s revenue rose to NT$360.94 billion, setting a new record high, from November’s NT$351.73 billion, backed by strong demand for consumer electronics and communications products.
That represented an annual increase of 13.88 percent from NT$316.94 billion in 2011.
Last year, Hon Hai’s total unconsolidated revenue rose 16.09 percent to NT$3.33 trillion from NT$2.77 trillion in 2011.
Daiwa Capital Markets analyst Birdy Lu (呂家霖) forecast that Hon Hai will increase its revenue by 12 percent this year, primarily boosted by the growth of Apple’s iPhone and iPad business and further large-sized LCD TV panel orders from Sharp Corp, Vizio Inc and cable-TV operators, according to a report released last week.
Shares in TSMC rallied 1 percent to NT$101 yesterday, outperforming the TAIEX, which gained 0.94 percent, while Hon Hai rose 0.91 percent to NT$88.6.
The US dollar was trading at NT$29.7 at 10am today on the Taipei Foreign Exchange, as the New Taiwan dollar gained NT$1.364 from the previous close last week. The NT dollar continued to rise today, after surging 3.07 percent on Friday. After opening at NT$30.91, the NT dollar gained more than NT$1 in just 15 minutes, briefly passing the NT$30 mark. Before the US Department of the Treasury's semi-annual currency report came out, expectations that the NT dollar would keep rising were already building. The NT dollar on Friday closed at NT$31.064, up by NT$0.953 — a 3.07 percent single-day gain. Today,
‘SHORT TERM’: The local currency would likely remain strong in the near term, driven by anticipated US trade pressure, capital inflows and expectations of a US Fed rate cut The US dollar is expected to fall below NT$30 in the near term, as traders anticipate increased pressure from Washington for Taiwan to allow the New Taiwan dollar to appreciate, Cathay United Bank (國泰世華銀行) chief economist Lin Chi-chao (林啟超) said. Following a sharp drop in the greenback against the NT dollar on Friday, Lin told the Central News Agency that the local currency is likely to remain strong in the short term, driven in part by market psychology surrounding anticipated US policy pressure. On Friday, the US dollar fell NT$0.953, or 3.07 percent, closing at NT$31.064 — its lowest level since Jan.
The New Taiwan dollar and Taiwanese stocks surged on signs that trade tensions between the world’s top two economies might start easing and as US tech earnings boosted the outlook of the nation’s semiconductor exports. The NT dollar strengthened as much as 3.8 percent versus the US dollar to 30.815, the biggest intraday gain since January 2011, closing at NT$31.064. The benchmark TAIEX jumped 2.73 percent to outperform the region’s equity gauges. Outlook for global trade improved after China said it is assessing possible trade talks with the US, providing a boost for the nation’s currency and shares. As the NT dollar
The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) yesterday met with some of the nation’s largest insurance companies as a skyrocketing New Taiwan dollar piles pressure on their hundreds of billions of dollars in US bond investments. The commission has asked some life insurance firms, among the biggest Asian holders of US debt, to discuss how the rapidly strengthening NT dollar has impacted their operations, people familiar with the matter said. The meeting took place as the NT dollar jumped as much as 5 percent yesterday, its biggest intraday gain in more than three decades. The local currency surged as exporters rushed to
RSS