Chip foundry SMIC blows past market estimates with record US$690m Q2 revenue
Net profit for the three months also rises 27pc to US$97.6 million, the company’s 17th consecutive quarter of profitability
Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC), mainland China’s largest contract chipmaker, says it is ramping up production capacity to meet fast-growing demand in the second half of this year, following the company’s strongest quarterly results to date in the three months to June.
“We are guiding another strong quarter of growth in the third quarter, and target continued growth in the fourth quarter, contrary to seasonality, and another record year for 2016,” he said.
The Shanghai-based company expected LFoundry, the Italian integrated circuit manufacturer it bought recently for €49 million (HK$421.5 million), to significantly raise overall fabrication capacity over the next three to four quarters.
Net profit for the three months ended June 30 rose 27 per cent to US$97.6 million, up from US$76.7 million in the same period last year, on robust demand from Chinese “fabless” companies – firms that design chips and outsource their production to semiconductor foundries like SMIC.
“This marked our 17th consecutive quarter of profitability,” Chiu said, adding the firm’s capacity utilisation rate also reached 98 per cent in the period.
Gross margin was 31.6 per cent last quarter, compared to 32.3 per cent a year earlier, as revenue increased 26 per cent to a historical high of US$690.2 million from US$546.6 million the previous year.