UMC Q3 Profit Climbs, Net Revenues Down - Quick Facts

(RTTNews) - Taiwanese semiconductor foundry United Microelectronics Corp. (UMC) Wednesday reported that its third quarter net income attributable to the stockholders of the parent climbed 16.7 percent to NT$3.47 billion or $115 million from last year's NT$2.98 billion.

Earnings per share were NT$0.28 or $0.009, higher than NT$0.24 last year. Earnings per ADS grew to $0.046 from $0.040 a year ago.

Third-quarter consolidated net revenue declined 1.2 percent to NT$37.70 billion or $1.24 billion from NT$38.16 billion a year ago.

Consolidated gross margin was 17.5%, down from 21.8 percent a year ago. Operating margin improved to 4.3 percent from 3.9 percent last year.

Looking ahead for the fourth quarter, the company projects gross profit margin to be in mid-teens percentage range and wafer shipments to decrease 3percent to 4 percent sequentially.

Jason Wang, co-president of UMC, said, "Looking into 4Q17, we expect the business environment to decline, due to typical year-end seasonal adjustment. In addition, we foresee 28nm HKMG demand to soften. As we develop and redefine new process technologies according to market demand, we expect to enhance UMC's market share by penetrating into emerging applications including IoT, 5G wireless and industrial segments, which will spur new waves of growth opportunities."