Chip Assembler Siliconware's Net Income Hits 7-Year High

Chip assembler Siliconware Precision Industries Co., Ltd. saw after-tax net income for 2014 surge 99.1 percent year on year to a seven year high of NT$11.73 billion (US$378.41 million), or NT$3.74 per share.

The company had 2014 total revenue of NT$83.07 billion (US$2.67 billion), increasing 19.8 percent from 2013, with average gross margin up 4.5 of a percentage point to 25.3 percent.

In Q4, 2014, the company's revenue declined 1.0 percent from a quarter earlier to NT$21.43 billion (US$691.32 million), but with gross margin rate up 1.3 of a percentage point to 26.9 percent to also hit seven year high. After-tax net income was NT$3.01 billion (US$97.16 million), or NT$0.97 per share.

Industry executives predict the company to pay dividend of NT$3 per share this year from 2014 operations based on a recent comment by company chairman W.P. Lin, that the dividends to be paid this year account for around 80 percent of the company's 2014 earnings.

Lin projects corporate revenue for Q1, 2015 to be  between NT$20.00 billion (US$645.16 million) and NT$21.20 billion (US$683.87 million), dwindling 1.1-6.7 percent from a quarter earlier, with gross margin rate of 24-26 percent and operating income rate at 14-16 percent, both meeting market expectations.

Lin is optimistic about market outlook of the semiconductor industry this year in light of the persistent growth in demand for smart phones and tablet PCs, especially in China and India, the world's two most populous economies.

Lin predicts the global semiconductor-chip market to grow 5 percent year on year this year, compared with last year's annual rate of 7-8 percent and the 7-8 percent growth rate projected for the chip assembly sector this year, with corporate growth to stand above the industry's average this year.

His company is developing presence in the market of Integrated Fan-Out (InFO) packaging for high-performance chips, which is more competitive in cost compared with the Chip on Wafer on Substrate (CoWoS) packaging, with the company to begin production in 2016.

The company will invest NT$10 billion (US$322.58 million) this year to boost production capacity, aiming to raise corporate revenue to NT$8 billion (US$258.06 million) a month. (KL)

Siliconware's Operations in Latest Four Quarters

	Q2/2014	Q3/2014	Q4/2014	Q1/2015 (forecasts)
Revenue	NT$21.92bn	NT$21.65bn	NT$21.43bn	NT$20.0 ~21.2bn
QoQ change (%)	21.4	-1.3	-1.0	-1.1~-6.7
Gross margin (%)	25.8	25.6	26.9	24~26
After-tax income	NT$3.37bn	NT$3.25bn	NT$3.01bn	N/A
EPS	NT$1.08	NT$1.04	NT$0.97	N/A

Source: Siliconware