SMIC 'mishap' reveals results ahead of schedule
Document with hidden data forces issue of official figures before US trade opens
Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC) inadvertently published its fourth-quarter results yesterday when it sent out a press release containing the numbers 'hidden' within the document.
The press release was sent yesterday just after 6.30pm to announce a conference call with company executives scheduled for this afternoon. But the simple use of the 'track changes' function in Microsoft Word revealed the company's full earnings almost 12 hours - and a full day's trading in the United States - ahead of schedule.
SMIC head of investor relations Jimmy Lai described the incident as an 'unfortunate mishap'.
'It looks like a mistake at our PR consulting company,' he said.
SMIC was expected to release its earnings at 5am in Hong Kong after the market closed in the US. However, following yesterday's slip, Mr Lai said the company would bring the announcement forward and release updated numbers before the start of trading in New York.
A representative from public relations firm PR people Consultancy told the South China Morning Post yesterday she did not know about SMIC's plans for an updated press release and asked for Mr Lai's telephone number. 'Just ignore it. The numbers [in the press invitation] are wrong,' she said.
The official numbers were released just minutes before the opening bell in New York and were largely identical to the hidden data.
It is not the first time a public statement has caused embarrassment for the Shanghai-based company, the world's third-largest contract chipmaker.
The firm was forced to file a retraction of remarks made before its initial public offering in 2004 by then chief financial officer Jenny Wang about a lawsuit filed against the company by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC).
The company retracted Ms Wang's comment that the lawsuit was 'without merit' in a filing to the US Securities and Exchange Commission but subsequently faced criticism for failing to provide the same degree of disclosure to investors in Hong Kong.
The earnings figures revealed SMIC is improving along with industry counterparts TSMC and United Microelectronics Corp.
Sales were US$333.05 million in the fourth quarter, up 7.5 per cent from the third quarter and 14.1 per cent year on year.
The company posted losses of US$14.97 million, down from US$26.11 million in the third quarter but greater than the US$11.21 million reported in the year-ago period.
Gross margin improved to 12.9 per cent from 8.2 per cent in the third quarter, but was still down from 20.7 per cent a year ago.
Capacity utilisation edged up slightly to 93 per cent from 92 per cent previously.
The firm shipped 376,227 eight-inch wafer equivalents, up 5.78 per cent from the third quarter. Average selling prices were US$885 per wafer, up 1.7 per cent.
