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Taiwan's largest chipmaker announces record profit |
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April 26, 2000
TAIPEI, APR 25 (AP) - First-quarter earnings of the world's largest chipmaker rose a record 147 percent as robust international demand fueled increased exports, the company announced Tuesday.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. recorded a net profit of 10.09 billion Taiwan dollars (U.S. dlrs 325 million) from 4.09 billion Taiwan dollars (U.S. dlrs 132 million) during the same period last year, the company said.
The record profit was due mainly to the company shipping 642,000 eight-inch wafers overseas - nearly double the amount exported last year, the release quoted company Vice-Chairman Huang Yen-chun as saying.
The company's shares closed higher Tuesday, up 7 Taiwan dollars (U.S. cents 22) to 187 Taiwan dollars (U.S. dlrs 6) in anticipation of the strong earnings, which were reported after the market closed.
After languishing for much of 1998 amid the effects of the Asian financial crisis, the semiconductor industry is poised for a rebound and will continue unabated up to the end of this year, analysts said.
"As a leader in the industry, TSMC's sales and shipments will gain more momentum in the coming months," said Don Floyd of Credit Lyonnais Securities. He added that the company's earnings were within market expectations.
Earlier this month, company Chairman Morris Chang said he expected the company's sales and profits to double with the production of about 3.4 million wafers this year, up from his previous estimate of 2.8 million.
Last year, TSMC's net profits rose 60 percent from 1998 to 24.56 billion Taiwan dollars (U.S. dlrs 793 million), while sales rose 46 percent to 73.13 billion Taiwan dollars (U.S. dlrs 2.4 billion), the press release said.
Early this year, the company announced it was buying Worldwide Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp., the island's third largest chipmaker. TSMC recently acquired all of TSMC-Acer Semicon, its chipmaking joint venture with Acer Inc.
Taiwanese firms build about 10 percent of the world's chips and 80 peß7¥lt of the "motherboards" used to run personal computers.
Taiwan's total chip output totaled U.S. dlrs 13 billion last year, with many companies straining to keep up with overseas demand.
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