Thursday, November 6, 2003
United Microelectronic Corp. (UMC) expecting ten percent increase in wafer production in the fourth quarter due to strong market demand, according to UMC's new CEO, Jackson Hu. UMC registered operating income of NT$2.59 billion (US$76.15 million) in the third quarter and the figure is expected to exceed NT$3.1 billion in the fourth quarter.
The firm's revenue is expected to hit a three-year quarterly high of NT$25 billion in the fourth quarter, with its monthly revenue also to hit a three-year high of NT$8 billion during the quarter. UMC chief finance officer Stan Hung said that as of the end of September UMC reported a cash position of NT$79.3 billion, making it unnecessary for the firm to raise funds in the coming two years for capital-expenditure expansion.
UMC reported third-quarter revenue of NT$21.54 billion, up 12.5 percent from one year earlier and edging down 0.8 percent from the second quarter. UMC said, however, its third-quarter net profit rose slightly to NT$5.05 billion from the NT$4.98 billion for the second quarter, due to a 0.5 percent increase in profit margin. UMC delivered 546,000 eight-inch-equivalent wafers at an equipment utilization rate of 80 percent in the third quarter. CEO Hu pointed out that production ratio of the under-0.18-micron technology products rose to 43 percent in the third quarter and the average selling price of such products rose about 1 percent. In the fourth quarter.
The new CEO said, UMC expects to maintain a stable average selling price and hopes its equipment utilization rate to rise to over 90 percent. As the demand for 12-inch wafers and high-level 0.13-micron technology capacity has been increasing, Hu said. Currently, UMC is the only semiconductor foundry in the world to simultaneously own two in-operation 12-inch fabs (the Fab 12A in Taiwan and UMCi in Singapore). Meanwhile, UMC said it will allow shareholders to sell in the US a 0.25 percent stake, which has a market value of about NT$1.3 billion. The identity of the shareholders was not disclosed but the shareholders will sell a stake of 0.4 percent or more.
By: DocMemory
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