HSINCHU, Taiwan--Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (TSMC) here on Tuesday posted sales of $1.18 billion (NT$41.2 billion) for the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, up 3% over the previous quarter and 24% in the like period a year ago.
The Hsinchu-based silicon foundry giant also reported a profit of $73 million (NT$2.6 billion) in the quarter, down 19.2% sequentially and a 43.2% decline from a year ago. The figures were in line with the company's estimates, but it disappointed Wall Street.
"TSMC Q4 results were slightly disappointing--more cautious news for the industry. EPS was NT$0.13 which was below expectations," according to a report from SG Cowen Securities Corp. of New York today. Shipments of chips based on TSMC's 0.13-micron process represented 8% of overall revenue in the quarter, up from 5% in Q3, according to the report.
TSMC also said its overall fab-utilization rate fell, from 79% in Q3 of 2002, to 61% in Q4. But it also claimed its book-to-bill ratio reached 1.0 for the months of November and December, which indicated "a steady growth in orders," according to the company.
For the year, TSMC had sales of $4.65 billion (NT160.96 billion), up 27.9% from the like period a year ago. It also posted profits of a whopping $625 million (NT$21.7 billion) in 2002, up 49.2% from 2001.
"Our 4Q02 results reflect the current overall lackluster business environment," said Harvey Chang, senior vice president and CFO of TSMC, in a statement. "During October and November, our revenues benefited from sales from inventory on hand at the end of the third quarter, reflecting a pick up in demand for PCs and communications products for the Christmas season. Unit sales decreased in December, however, as the holiday season drew to a close."
Going forward, the company said that "revenue growth" would return in the second quarter of 2003, as previously stated. But as expected, TSMC will cut its capital spending in 2003 (see Jan. 27 story ). The company's capital spending will be in the range of $1.0-to-$1.5 billion, down from about $1.65 billion in 2002.
"We also expect 2003 semiconductor industry revenue growth to be around 8%, while TSMC revenue growth continues to exceedthat," the company said.
"Wafer shipments to decline by a low single-digit percentage rate on a sequential basis; ASP to decline by about 7% due to essentially flat percentage shipments of advanced technology wafers (0.18um and below) and a general price decline. The percentage shipments of advanced technology wafers will rise again in 2Q03," the company added.
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