DRAM chipmaker Inotera Memories Inc (ÈA†¿Æ¼¼) yesterday said it is considering cutting capital again to return an of excess cash to shareholders after a record-high net profit last quarter helped boost its cash position to NT$37.85 billion (US$1.21 billion) last year.

The figure more than doubled from NT$15.46 billion at the end of 2013. Its debt-to-equity ratio improved to 18 percent at the end of last year, compared with 107 percent the previous year.

¡°After writing off all accumulated losses, the company plans to better utilize its cash this year,¡± Inotera chairman Charles Kau (¸ß†¢È«) told a new conference in Taipei. ¡°Distributing cash dividends [to shareholders] and reducing capital will be among our options.¡±

Inotera, a DRAM manufacturing joint venture between US memorychip maker Micron Technology Inc and Taiwan¡¯s Nanya Technology Corp (Äρ†¿Æ¼¼), has a share capital of NT$65.36 billion.

Inotera plans to write off the remaining NT$390 million in accumulated losses this year by allocating its capital surplus, also known as additional paid-in capital.

Last quarter, net income soared 67 percent to NT$19.42 billion, compared with NT$11.63 billion in the third quarter of last year, the company¡¯s financial statement showed.

Kau attributed the strong quarterly results to NT$2.4 billion in foreign-exchange gains and NT$6.2 billion from a tax rebate.

For all of last year, net income surged to an all-time high of NT$52.91 billion, or earnings per share of NT$8.32, from 2013¡¯s NT$21.2 billion, or NT$3.66 per share.

This quarter, Inotera plans to ship more higher-priced DDR4 DRAM chips, meaning the new DRAM chips would account for 20 percent of its total shipments in March from the current 10 percent.

Inotera plans to spend NT$50 billion this year on migrating to advanced 20-nanometer technology.

Meanwhile, Nanya Technology yesterday posted a sequential growth of 14.8 percent to NT$8.57 billion in net profit for last quarter, compared with NT$7.46 billion in the third quarter of last year.

That brought the chipmaker¡¯s total net profit last year to a record high of NT$28.24 billion, a significant jump from NT$8.14 billion in 2013.

Looking ahead, company spokesperson Lee Pei-ing (ÀîÅàÓ¢) said: ¡°The first quarter will be a weak period due to seasonally weak demand for PCs¡­ This weakness may persist for one or two quarters.¡±

Extending the previous quarter¡¯s downward trend, the average selling price is expected to fall by more than 5 percent sequentially this quarter due to mild oversupply, while shipments will be flat, Lee said.

That might translate into lower revenue this quarter, from last quarter¡¯s NT$12.41 billion. Nanya Technology generates 20 percent of its revenue from selling PC DRAM chips.

Nanya Technology expects prices to stabilize next quarter.

However, Lee is optimistic about the DRAM industry this year as a whole. He expects demand to slightly exceed supply this year, driven by rising demand for DRAM chips used in smartphones and servers.

By: DocMemory
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