UMC Posts Loss In Q4 On Weak Revenues; Sees Sequentially Weak Q1 Wafer Shipments

(RTTNews) - Semiconductor foundry United Microelectronics Corp. (UMC) reported Tuesday that its fourth-quarter net loss attributable to stockholders of the parent was NT$1.71 billion, compared to profit of NT$1.77 billion a year ago.

Loss per ordinary share was NT$0.14, compared to profit of NT$0.15 last year. Loss per ADS was $0.023, compared to profit of $0.024 last year.

Fourth-quarter consolidated revenue was NT$35.52 billion or $1.16 billion, down 3.0% from NT$36.63 billion in the prior year. Sequentially, revenues fell 9.8%.

Looking ahead, for the first quarter, the company said it expects wafer shipments to be down 6 to 7 percent, and gross margin to be in the mid-single digit percentage range.

Co-president Jason Wang said, "Looking into the first quarter of 2019, we anticipate further deceleration in customers' wafer demand, due to a softer than expected outlook in entry-level and mid-end smartphones as well as falling crypto currency valuations."