ChipMOS REPORTS FIRST QUARTER 2007 RESULTS
Hsinchu, Taiwan, May 4, 2007 ChipMOS TECHNOLOGIES (Bermuda) LTD. ("ChipMOS" or the "Company") (NASDAQ: IMOS) today reported unaudited consolidated financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2007. All U.S. dollar figures in this release are based on the exchange rate of NT$33.09 against US$1.00 as of March 30, 2007.
Net revenue for the first quarter of 2007 was NT$5,723.0 million or US$172.9 million, an increase of 31.0% from NT$4,367.1 million or US$132.0 million for the same period in 2006 and a decrease of 3.3% from NT$5,920.8 million or US$178.9 million in the fourth quarter of 2006. Under US GAAP, the gross margin for the first quarter of 2007 was 27.2%, compared to 31.4% for the same period in 2006 and 31.7% for the fourth quarter of 2006. Under US GAAP, net income for the first quarter of 2007 was NT$265.7 million or US$8.0 million, and NT$3.74 or US$0.11 per common share. Net income under US GAAP for the first quarter of 2007 included NT$102.9 million or US$3.1 million of non-cash charges from changes in the fair value of the embedded derivative liabilities and amortization of discount on convertible notes. Excluding the above two special items regarding to convertible notes, non-GAAP adjusted net income for the first quarter of 2007 would have been NT$368.6 million or US$11.1 million, and NT$5.18 or US$0.16 per common share.
The unaudited consolidated financial results of ChipMOS for the first quarter ended March 31, 2007 included the financial results of ChipMOS TECHNOLOGIES INC., ChipMOS Japan Inc., ChipMOS U.S.A., Inc., ChipMOS TECHNOLOGIES (H.K.) Limited, MODERN MIND TECHNOLOGY LIMITED and its wholly-owned subsidiary ChipMOS TECHNOLOGIES (Shanghai) LTD., and ThaiLin Semiconductor Corp.
S.J. Cheng, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of ChipMOS, said, "The first quarter 2007 results came in as expected with revenue, gross margin and net income being in line with guidance. We achieved better than seasonally normal results due to strength in our DRAM and flash businesses, which was affected by declines in the LCD driver IC business and fewer working days in February. We continue to benefit from the long-term customer programs already in place and new programs ramping up. We are also encouraged by the migration of our DRAM customers' 90 nm technologies to 70 nm technologies or below. This helps customers increase their output per wafer, further reduces front end costs, while at the same time benefiting ChipMOS through significantly increased average testing times, higher volumes, and potentially more stable ASPs."
S.K. Chen, Chief Financial Officer of ChipMOS, said, "Gross margin remained healthy at 27.2%. While we continue to stress profitability and free cash flow generation efforts and would always like to achieve improvements, the sequentially lower gross margin reflects the lower utilization level in our LCD driver business and product mix. We expect the business environment and demand levels in LCD driver IC to improve starting in the second quarter due to recovery of end market demand. We also expect a continued ramping of our flash business. Due to unclear market situation, especially in DRAM pricing, we will be conservative in our investment in DRAM capacity. Consequently we currently expect that CapEx in 2007 will be lower than our initial plan of US$260 million."
Second Quarter 2007 Outlook
Based on current customer forecasts and market conditions, ChipMOS currently expects that revenue for the second quarter of 2007 will be in the range of approximately US$173 million to US$182 million, which would represent flat to approximately 5% sequential growth compared to the first quarter of 2007. The Company currently expects US GAAP gross margin on a consolidated basis for the second quarter of 2007 to be in the range of approximately 24% to 27%.
Mr. Cheng commented, "ChipMOS is currently in a great position for 2007. Our prior efforts to align the company with key leaders in the DRAM (including DDR II), flash, and LCD driver segments have established ChipMOS as a leader of outsourced testing and assembly in these respective segments. We expect that these segments will continue to recover in 2007. We are also confident that the outsourcing trend will continue with an increased number of companies outsourcing and with existing customers increasing the scale of the programs they outsource. We believe our lower CapEx strategy, free cash flow focus and efforts to streamline the corporate ownership structure will help in our long-term goal of maximizing shareholder value. The latest example was our recent transaction with Siliconware Precision Industries Co., Ltd., which we believe will be accretive in 2007 and beyond."
Investor Conference Call / Webcast Details
ChipMOS will review detailed first quarter 2007 results on Thursday, May 3, 2007 at 7:00PM ET (7:00AM, May 4, Taiwan time). The conference call-in number is 1-201-689-8562. A live webcast of the conference call will be available at ChipMOS' website at http://www.chipmos.com/. The playback will be available in 2 hours after the conclusion of the conference call and will be accessible by dialing 1-201-612-7415. The account number to access the replay is 3055 and the confirmation ID number is 238639.
About ChipMOS TECHNOLOGIES (Bermuda) LTD.:
ChipMOS (http://www.chipmos.com/) is a leading independent provider of semiconductor testing and assembly services to customers in Taiwan, Japan, and the U.S. With advanced facilities in Hsinchu and Southern Taiwan Science Parks in Taiwan and Shanghai, ChipMOS and its subsidiaries provide testing and assembly services to a broad range of customers, including leading fabless semiconductor companies, integrated device manufacturers and independent semiconductor foundries.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements contained in this announcement may be viewed as "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which may cause the actual performance, financial condition or results of operations of the Company to be materially different from any future performance, financial condition or results of operations implied by such forward-looking statements. Further information regarding these risks, uncertainties and other factors is included in the Company's most recent Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") and in the Company's other filings with the SEC.
Use of Non-GAAP Information
Readers are reminded that non-GAAP numbers contained in this announcement are merely a supplement to, and not a replacement for, the GAAP financial measures. These non-GAAP numbers should be read in conjunction with the US GAAP financial measures. It should be noted as well that the non-GAAP information provided in this announcement may be different from the non-GAAP information provided by other companies.
Contacts:
In Taiwan
Dr. S.K. Chen
ChipMOS TECHNOLOGIES (Bermuda) LTD.
+886-6-507-7712
s.k._chen@chipmos.com
In the U.S.
David Pasquale
The Ruth Group
646-536-7006
dpasquale@theruthgroup.com