Semiconductor Manufacturing International (SMIC) is set to end 2012 with record revenues, according to the China-based foundry chipmaker, which saw its revenues hit a new quarterly high in the third quarter of the year.

"SMIC has demonstrated another quarter of significant improvement," Tzu-Yin Chiu, SMIC's chief executive officer and executive director, said in a statement. "We are now three quarters through the year, and we anticipate that 2012 will mark a year of record-high revenue."

SMIC reported record quarterly revenues of US$461.2 million for the third quarter of 2012, representing growth of 9.3% sequentially and 50.3% from a year ago. Gross margin climbed to 27.5% in the third quarter from 24.1% in the second, primarily thanks to continued improvements in manufacturing efficiency.

Net cash flow generated from operations was US$119 million in third-quarter 2012, compared to US$109.4 million in the prior quarter, SMIC revealed. Income attributable to the foundry increased to US$12 million in the third quarter, compared to US$7.1 million in the second. Diluted EPS came to US$0.02 per ADS.

Looking forward, SMIC expects its fourth-quarter evenues to register flat to 2% sequential growth, with gross margin ranging from 18% to 20%. Rising sales generated from 65nm and 0.18-micron process technology will drive the revenue growth, SMIC indicated.

"In the past two quarters, we successfully achieved our short-term goal: to fully utilize our existing capacity and improve efficiency," Chiu continued. "And we are on track with our long-term objective, to continue advanced technology development to serve the expanding demand from the fast growing China market."

"SMIC is benefiting from the rapid growth of the communications and consumer sectors in China," Chiu noted. "Because of SMIC's weight in these sectors, we are less sensitive to PC weakness, and we are currently benefiting from good exposure to feature phones, smartphones and tablets."

By: DocMemory
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