TAIPEI: Siliconware Precision Industrial Co (SPIL), the world’s No. 2 chip packager, yesterday said net profit for last quarter was its highest quarterly showing in five-and-a-half years, but it expected revenue to decline 12.42 percent sequentially this quarter due to weak demand amid a longer-than-expected inventory correction.
Revenue is expected to drop to between NT$18.6 billion (US$590.05 million) and NT$19.8 billion this quarter from last quarter’s NT$21.24 billion, chairman Bough Lin told an investors’ teleconference.
“Inventory digestion is very slow, mainly due to weaker-than-expected smartphone demand in emerging markets, therefore most of our clients are very cautious about placing new orders,” Lin said.
The chip packager’s sales guidance for this quarter is lower than Daiwa Capital Markets Inc’s estimate. Daiwa predicted that SPIL’s revenues would grow by a low single-digit percentage from the previous quarter.
Lin said SPIL’s four main product lines are expected to see revenue decline this quarter, with the communication segment, which contributed 66 percent of the firm’s total revenues last quarter, to plunging by a double-digit percentage sequentially.
Revenue from its computing and consumer segments, which contributed a total of 31 percent of the firm’s sales in the second quarter, are expected to drop by a high single-digit percentage this quarter, Lin said.
Gross margin is set to fall to between 22.5 percent and 24.5 percent this quarter from 27.2 percent last quarter, due to lower revenues and higher operating expenses from the construction cost of a new plant in Taichung, Lin said.
The chip packager’s net profit grew 8.9 percent annually to NT$3.67 billion, or NT$1.18 per share, last quarter. On a quarterly basis, the figure jumped 40.61 percent from the previous quarter.
SPIL’s net income last quarter marks its best quarterly figure in 22 quarters, according to the firm’s filings with the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
Commenting on the outlook for the semiconductor industry overall, Lin said order visibility for the second half is unclear, because global demand for consumer electronics products has been affected by the Greek debit crisis, the volatility of China’s stock market and the strong US dollar.
“Clients are very conservative about business outlook in the second half, but we have not ruled out the possibility of seeing a rush in orders in the fourth quarter ahead of the holiday season,” Lin said.
SPIL shares plunged 2.44 percent to NT$36 in Taipei trading yesterday ahead of the teleconference, underperforming the TAIEX, which declined 0.22 percent.
