Semiconductor Manufacturing Int'l 2013 Profit Soars

(RTTNews) - Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. (SMI, 0981.HK) reported Tuesday that profit for the year ended December 31, 2013 soared from last year, reflecting improved margins, gains from disposals and double-digit revenue growth.

The company reported profit for the year attributable to owners of the company of a record $173.91 million or $0.01 per share for the full-year 2013, sharply higher than $22.84 million or breakeven per share in the prior year.

On average, three analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report earnings of $0.19 per share for the year. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Net sales for the year grew 21.6 percent to a record high of $2.07 billion from $1.70 billion in the previous year, primarily due to an increase in 40/45nm and 0.15/0.18µm wafer shipments as well as a significant increase in Chinese sales.

Three Wall Street analysts had a consensus revenue estimate of $2.10 billion for the the full-year 2013.

China revenue surged 45.0 percent year-on-year and contributed 40.4 percent of the overall revenue in 2013 as compared to 33.9 percent in 2012.

Wafers shipped increased 16.1 percent to 2.57 million units from 2.22 million units in the prior year.

Customers from the U.S. contributed 48.5 percent of the overall revenue in 2013, compared to 55.3 percent in 2012, and remained the largest revenue base for SMIC in 2013, contributing 53.1 percent to advanced nodes wafer revenue.

Other operating income more than tripled to $67.87 million from $19.12 million from a year ago, primarily reflecting gains from disposals.

Gross margin for the year improved 70 basis points to 21.2 percent from last year's 20.5 percent, primarily due to higher overall utilization.

The company also noted that its board did not recommend the payment of any dividend for the year ended December 31, 2013.

Looking ahead, the company noted that it is excited about upcoming market opportunities. Smart Card IC's and CIS BSI technology are new products that are targeted to begin production in the second half of 2014, while also continuing the ramp-up of 40/45nm production.

SMI closed Tuesday's regular trading session at $4.07, down $0.14 or 3.33% on a volume of 0.26 million shares.