Shanghai, China [2006-02-06]
Shanghai, China - February 6, 2006. Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (NYSE: SMI; SEHK: 981) ("SMIC" or the "Company"), one of the leading semiconductor foundries in the world, today announced its consolidated results of operations for the three months ended December 31, 2005. Sales increased 7.5% in the fourth quarter of 2005 to $333.1 million from $310.0 million in the prior quarter. The Company reported an increase in capacity to 152,219 8-inch equivalent wafers per month and a utilization rate of 93% in the fourth quarter of 2005. Gross margins were 12.9% in the fourth quarter of 2005 compared to 8.2% in the third quarter of 2005. Net loss decreased to $15.0 million in the fourth quarter of 2005 compared to a net loss of $26.1 million in the third quarter of 2005. Compared to the third quarter of 2005, wafer shipments increased 5.8% to 376,227 8-inch wafers in the fourth quarter of 2005.
"We continue to receive strong orders from our broad customer base across leading edge and mainstream technology nodes," said Dr. Richard Chang, President and Chief Executive Officer of SMIC. "As a result, our revenues and the average selling price of our wafers increased during the fourth quarter.
We continue to generate strong cash flows from operations. We generated $174 million in cash from our operations during the fourth quarter and $648 million in 2005. With almost $600 million of available cash on hand and over $600 million in available credit facilities, including the recently completed $105 million loan facility guaranteed by Atradius Dutch State Business N.V. of Amsterdam, we will continue to expand our capacity at our existing sites. Our 2006 capital expenditure budget will be approximately $1.1 billion, which will be scalable depending on market conditions. In addition, we will pursue alternative opportunities to expand our capacity through the use of strategic alliances.
During the fourth quarter, we commenced commercial production for nine new customers, two of whom are among the top fabless companies in the world. We also taped out nineteen new products, of which over half are products for Mainland China customers. Our Mainland China customers continue to represent an important area of growth. More than 8% of our revenues in December 2005 was generated from Mainland Chinese fabless companies. The new products we manufactured for those companies include the first 3G baseband chips on 0.13 micron process for the TD-SCDMA, WCDMA, and CDMA2000 standards, a digital satellite receiver chip for set-top boxes, and an HDTV video processor chip.
Our joint venture projects continue to progress on schedule. Specifically, our testing and assembly project in Chengdu began pilot production in December 2005 and is ramping up quickly. We anticipate that starting in the first quarter of 2006, we will offer in-house turn-key manufacturing services in China. In addition, our joint venture with Toppan to manufacture on-chip color filters and micro lenses began pilot production in December 2005 and is currently under qualification."
Conference call / Webcast announcement details
Date: February 7, 2006
Time: 8:00 a.m. Shanghai time
Dial-in numbers and pass code: U.S. 1-617-614-2714 or HK 852-3002-1672 (Pass code: SMIC).
A live webcast of the 2005 fourth quarter announcement will be available at http://www.smics.com under the "Investor Relations" section. An archived version of the webcast, along with a soft copy of this news release will be available on the SMIC website for a period of 12 months following the webcast.
About SMIC
Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation ("SMIC", NYSE: SMI, SEHK: 0981.HK), headquartered in Shanghai, China, is an international company and one of the leading semiconductor foundries in the world, providing integrated circuit (IC) manufacturing at 0.35um to 90nm and finer line technologies to customers worldwide. Established in 2000, SMIC has four 8-inch wafer fabrication facilities in volume production in Shanghai and Tianjin. In the first quarter of 2005, SMIC commenced commercial production at its 12-inch wafer fabrication facility in Beijing, the first 12-inch fab in China. SMIC also maintains customer service and marketing offices in the U.S., Europe, and Japan, and a representative office in Hong Kong. SMIC's pool of talent includes over 2,500 semiconductor industry experts and technical staff. SMIC has achieved ISO9001, ISO/TS16949, OHSAS18001, TL9000, BS7799 and ISO14001 certifications. For additional information, please visit http://www.smics.com.
Safe Harbor Statements
(Under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995)
This press release and the attachments contain, in addition to historical information, "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the "safe harbor" provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements, including statements about SMIC's anticipated product development, product introduction and future performance, statements regarding SMIC's continued expansion of capacity at SMIC's existing sites, statements regarding SMIC's 2006 capital expenditure budget of approximately $1.1 billion, which will be scalable, statements regarding SMIC's pursuit of alternative opportunities to expand capacity through strategic alliances, statements regarding SMIC's anticipated offering of in-house turn-key manufacturing services in China starting in the first quarter of 2006, as well as the statements under "1Q06 Outlook" below, are based on SMIC's current assumptions, expectations and projections about future events. SMIC uses words like "believe," "anticipate," "intend," "estimate," "expect," "project" and similar expressions to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these words. These forward-looking statements are necessarily estimates reflecting the best judgment of SMIC's senior management and involve significant risks, both known and unknown, uncertainties and other factors that may cause SMIC's actual performance, financial condition or results of operations to be materially different from those suggested by the forward-looking statements, including, among others, risks associated with cyclicality and market conditions in the semiconductor industry, intense competition, timely wafer acceptance by SMIC's customers, timely and successful introduction of new technologies, SMIC's ability to ramp new products into volume, supply and demand for semiconductor foundry services, industry overcapacity, shortages in equipment, components and raw materials, availability of manufacturing capacity and financial stability in end markets.
Investors should consider the information contained in SMIC's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including its annual report on Form 20-F filed with the SEC on June 28, 2005, especially in the "Risk Factors" and "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" sections, and its registration statement on Form A-1 as filed with the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong (SEHK) on March 8, 2004, and such other documents that SMIC may file with the SEC or SEHK from time to time, including on Form 6-K. Other unknown or unpredictable factors also could have material adverse effects on SMIC's future results, performance or achievements. In light of these risks, uncertainties, assumptions and factors, the forward-looking events discussed in this press release may not occur. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date stated, or if no date is stated, as of the date of this press release.
Except as required by law, SMIC undertakes no obligation and does not intend to update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Investor Contacts:
Jimmy Lai
Investor Relations Department
Tel: 86-21-5080-2000, ext. 16088
Fax: 86-21-5080-3619
Calvin Lau
Investor Relations Department
Tel: 86-21-5080-2000, ext. 16693
Fax: 86-21-5080-3619
Mobile: 852-9435-2603
Mobile: 86-13636468590
SMIC Q4 earnings release
Shanghai, China - February 6, 2006. Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (NYSE: SMI; SEHK: 981) ("SMIC" or the "Company"), one of the leading semiconductor foundries in the world, today announced its consolidated results of operations for the three months ended December 31, 2005. Sales increased 7.5% in the fourth quarter of 2005 to $333.1 million from $310.0 million in the prior quarter. The Company reported an increase in capacity to 152,219 8-inch equivalent wafers per month and a utilization rate of 93% in the fourth quarter of 2005. Gross margins were 12.9% in the fourth quarter of 2005 compared to 8.2% in the third quarter of 2005. Net loss decreased to $15.0 million in the fourth quarter of 2005 compared to a net loss of $26.1 million in the third quarter of 2005. Compared to the third quarter of 2005, wafer shipments increased 5.8% to 376,227 8-inch wafers in the fourth quarter of 2005.
"We continue to receive strong orders from our broad customer base across leading edge and mainstream technology nodes," said Dr. Richard Chang, President and Chief Executive Officer of SMIC. "As a result, our revenues and the average selling price of our wafers increased during the fourth quarter.
We continue to generate strong cash flows from operations. We generated $174 million in cash from our operations during the fourth quarter and $648 million in 2005. With almost $600 million of available cash on hand and over $600 million in available credit facilities, including the recently completed $105 million loan facility guaranteed by Atradius Dutch State Business N.V. of Amsterdam, we will continue to expand our capacity at our existing sites. Our 2006 capital expenditure budget will be approximately $1.1 billion, which will be scalable depending on market conditions. In addition, we will pursue alternative opportunities to expand our capacity through the use of strategic alliances.
During the fourth quarter, we commenced commercial production for nine new customers, two of whom are among the top fabless companies in the world. We also taped out nineteen new products, of which over half are products for Mainland China customers. Our Mainland China customers continue to represent an important area of growth. More than 8% of our revenues in December 2005 was generated from Mainland Chinese fabless companies. The new products we manufactured for those companies include the first 3G baseband chips on 0.13 micron process for the TD-SCDMA, WCDMA, and CDMA2000 standards, a digital satellite receiver chip for set-top boxes, and an HDTV video processor chip.
Our joint venture projects continue to progress on schedule. Specifically, our testing and assembly project in Chengdu began pilot production in December 2005 and is ramping up quickly. We anticipate that starting in the first quarter of 2006, we will offer in-house turn-key manufacturing services in China. In addition, our joint venture with Toppan to manufacture on-chip color filters and micro lenses began pilot production in December 2005 and is currently under qualification."
Conference call / Webcast announcement details
Date: February 7, 2006
Time: 8:00 a.m. Shanghai time
Dial-in numbers and pass code: U.S. 1-617-614-2714 or HK 852-3002-1672 (Pass code: SMIC).
A live webcast of the 2005 fourth quarter announcement will be available at http://www.smics.com under the "Investor Relations" section. An archived version of the webcast, along with a soft copy of this news release will be available on the SMIC website for a period of 12 months following the webcast.
About SMIC
Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation ("SMIC", NYSE: SMI, SEHK: 0981.HK), headquartered in Shanghai, China, is an international company and one of the leading semiconductor foundries in the world, providing integrated circuit (IC) manufacturing at 0.35um to 90nm and finer line technologies to customers worldwide. Established in 2000, SMIC has four 8-inch wafer fabrication facilities in volume production in Shanghai and Tianjin. In the first quarter of 2005, SMIC commenced commercial production at its 12-inch wafer fabrication facility in Beijing, the first 12-inch fab in China. SMIC also maintains customer service and marketing offices in the U.S., Europe, and Japan, and a representative office in Hong Kong. SMIC's pool of talent includes over 2,500 semiconductor industry experts and technical staff. SMIC has achieved ISO9001, ISO/TS16949, OHSAS18001, TL9000, BS7799 and ISO14001 certifications. For additional information, please visit http://www.smics.com.
Safe Harbor Statements
(Under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995)
This press release and the attachments contain, in addition to historical information, "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the "safe harbor" provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements, including statements about SMIC's anticipated product development, product introduction and future performance, statements regarding SMIC's continued expansion of capacity at SMIC's existing sites, statements regarding SMIC's 2006 capital expenditure budget of approximately $1.1 billion, which will be scalable, statements regarding SMIC's pursuit of alternative opportunities to expand capacity through strategic alliances, statements regarding SMIC's anticipated offering of in-house turn-key manufacturing services in China starting in the first quarter of 2006, as well as the statements under "1Q06 Outlook" below, are based on SMIC's current assumptions, expectations and projections about future events. SMIC uses words like "believe," "anticipate," "intend," "estimate," "expect," "project" and similar expressions to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these words. These forward-looking statements are necessarily estimates reflecting the best judgment of SMIC's senior management and involve significant risks, both known and unknown, uncertainties and other factors that may cause SMIC's actual performance, financial condition or results of operations to be materially different from those suggested by the forward-looking statements, including, among others, risks associated with cyclicality and market conditions in the semiconductor industry, intense competition, timely wafer acceptance by SMIC's customers, timely and successful introduction of new technologies, SMIC's ability to ramp new products into volume, supply and demand for semiconductor foundry services, industry overcapacity, shortages in equipment, components and raw materials, availability of manufacturing capacity and financial stability in end markets.
Investors should consider the information contained in SMIC's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including its annual report on Form 20-F filed with the SEC on June 28, 2005, especially in the "Risk Factors" and "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" sections, and its registration statement on Form A-1 as filed with the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong (SEHK) on March 8, 2004, and such other documents that SMIC may file with the SEC or SEHK from time to time, including on Form 6-K. Other unknown or unpredictable factors also could have material adverse effects on SMIC's future results, performance or achievements. In light of these risks, uncertainties, assumptions and factors, the forward-looking events discussed in this press release may not occur. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date stated, or if no date is stated, as of the date of this press release.
Except as required by law, SMIC undertakes no obligation and does not intend to update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Investor Contacts:
Jimmy Lai
Investor Relations Department
Tel: 86-21-5080-2000, ext. 16088
Fax: 86-21-5080-3619
Calvin Lau
Investor Relations Department
Tel: 86-21-5080-2000, ext. 16693
Fax: 86-21-5080-3619
Mobile: 852-9435-2603
Mobile: 86-13636468590
SMIC Q4 earnings release
