Net income declined 42 percent to NT$18.8 billion ($567 million), or 73 NT cents a share, from NT$32.6 billion, or a revised NT$1.26, a year earlier, the Hsinchu, Taiwan-based company said today in a statement. The chipmaker was expected to post profit of NT$20.7 billion, according to the average of 16 estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

Taiwan Semiconductor client Texas Instruments Inc., the world’s largest mobile-phone chipmaker, this week said profit fell for the first time in two years as inventory rose, and forecast orders will rebound in the current period. The Taiwan company’s Chairman Morris Chang has invested in the latest technology to ramp up capacity and tap an increase in demand.

“Recovery in the semiconductor industry may take longer than the market anticipates” because demand for handsets may not meet expectations, said Jordan Chen, who oversees $1.3 billion in assets as chief investment officer at Invesco Taiwan Ltd. in Taipei.

Taiwan Semiconductor said consolidated sales fell 16 percent to NT$64.9 billion from NT$77.29 billion a year earlier. Shares of the company, the largest publicly traded firm in Taiwan, rose 0.9 percent to NT$69.90 in Taiwan before the earnings were announced, compared with 0.2 percent gain in the benchmark TAIEX index.

Subscribe to The China Post and save.  Click hereSharePrintEmail

Write a Comment

Enter your comments - 800 characters max

Receive China Post promos

Respond to this email