Shanghai, China [2005-01-31]
SMIC reports 2004 fourth quarter revenue results
Shanghai, China [2005-01-31]
Shanghai, China - January 31, 2005. Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (NYSE: SMI; SEHK: 981) ("SMIC" or the "Company"), one of the leading semiconductor foundries in the world, today announced that during the three months ended December 31, 2004, sales increased 6.2% to $291.8 million from $274.9 million in the prior quarter.
"We are pleased to report continued revenue growth through the fourth quarter of 2004," said Dr. Richard Chang, President and Chief Executive Officer of SMIC. "During the fourth quarter of 2004, we have engaged 19 new customers, 12 of which are China fabless companies. While the global semiconductor industry has softened, the Greater China region continues to demonstrate strength accounting for more than 10% of total revenues indicating that China's domestic demand for semiconductors is still growing. New customers and existing customer commitments contributed to our fourth quarter fab utilization of 95%. As we continue expanding our portfolio of process technologies, we plan to start pilot production of 90nm technology in the second half of 2005. From a business operations and technology standpoint, 2004 was a significant year for SMIC as we continue to focus on execution rooting our future plans upon solid business fundamentals. We will continue to expand our 12" fab and expect to grow our revenues in 2005."
"We are pleased to announce that the Company last evening resolved pending patent and trade secret litigations with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company," continued Dr. Chang. "Under the settlement's terms, SMIC will pay TSMC $175 million, payable in installments over six years ($30 million in each of the first five years and $25 million in the sixth year). In addition, the two parties will cross license to each other’s patent portfolio through December 2010. The agreement also provides for the dismissal of all pending legal actions without prejudice between the two companies in U.S. District Court, California State Superior Court, the U.S. International Trade Commission, and Taiwan District Court as well. In the settlement agreement, TSMC covenants not to sue SMIC for itemized acts of trade secret misappropriation as alleged in the complaints, although the settlement does not grant a license to use any of TSMC’s trade secrets. The patent cross license and settlement agreement are terminable upon a breach by SMIC, which may result in the reinstitution of the legal proceedings and acceleration of the outstanding payments under the settlement agreement."
"We are pleased that the litigation has been settled peacefully and believe that the settlement is in the best interests of the Company’s long term development. As a young and growing company, we will continue to cooperate with international companies. We want to focus our resources on providing better foundry services to our customers."
The Company is currently in the process of finalizing its analysis of the impact of the settlement on the Company’s financial statements for the fourth quarter and the year ending December 31, 2004 under United States generally accepted accounting principles and other applicable accounting regulations. Therefore, the Company is unable to provide at this time, its results of operations for the fourth quarter of 2004 or any guidance relating to the first quarter of 2005, other than those contained in this release. The Company anticipates that it will be able to provide these results within four to six weeks time.
Conference call / Webcast announcement details
Date: January 31, 2005
Time: 8:00 a.m. Shanghai time
Dial-in numbers and access codes: U.S. 1-617-847-8709 or HK 852-3002-1672 (Pass codes: SMIC).
A live webcast of the fourth quarter results 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
SMIC (NYSE: SMI, SEHK: 0981.HK) is one of the leading semiconductor foundries in the world, providing integrated circuit (IC) manufacturing at 0.35-micron to 0.13-micron 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 addition, SMIC recently commenced pilot production at its 12-inch wafer fabrication facility in Beijing. SMIC maintains customer service and marketing offices in the U.S., Europe, and Japan. As part of its dedication towards providing high-quality services, SMIC strives to comply with or exceed international standards and has achieved ISO9001, ISO/TS16949, OHSAS18001, TL9000 and ISO14001 certifications. For more information, please visit http://www.smics.com.
Safe harbor statements
(Under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995)
This press release may 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 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 the impact of the settlement of the litigation with TSMC on the Company's financial statements for the fourth quarter and the year ended December 31, 2004 that the Company anticipates that it will be able to provide within four to six weeks time, risks associated with cyclicality and market conditions in the semiconductor industry, intense competition, timely wafer acceptance by SMIC's customers, timely 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 registration statement on Form F-1, as amended, filed with the SEC on March 11, 2004, 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
Evonne Hwang
Investor Relations Department
Tel: 86-21-5080-2000, ext. 16275
Fax: 86-21-5080-3619
For the full SMIC Quarter 4 Earnings Release, click the following link.
SMIC earnings release
SMIC reports 2004 fourth quarter revenue results
Shanghai, China [2005-01-31]
Shanghai, China - January 31, 2005. Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (NYSE: SMI; SEHK: 981) ("SMIC" or the "Company"), one of the leading semiconductor foundries in the world, today announced that during the three months ended December 31, 2004, sales increased 6.2% to $291.8 million from $274.9 million in the prior quarter.
"We are pleased to report continued revenue growth through the fourth quarter of 2004," said Dr. Richard Chang, President and Chief Executive Officer of SMIC. "During the fourth quarter of 2004, we have engaged 19 new customers, 12 of which are China fabless companies. While the global semiconductor industry has softened, the Greater China region continues to demonstrate strength accounting for more than 10% of total revenues indicating that China's domestic demand for semiconductors is still growing. New customers and existing customer commitments contributed to our fourth quarter fab utilization of 95%. As we continue expanding our portfolio of process technologies, we plan to start pilot production of 90nm technology in the second half of 2005. From a business operations and technology standpoint, 2004 was a significant year for SMIC as we continue to focus on execution rooting our future plans upon solid business fundamentals. We will continue to expand our 12" fab and expect to grow our revenues in 2005."
"We are pleased to announce that the Company last evening resolved pending patent and trade secret litigations with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company," continued Dr. Chang. "Under the settlement's terms, SMIC will pay TSMC $175 million, payable in installments over six years ($30 million in each of the first five years and $25 million in the sixth year). In addition, the two parties will cross license to each other’s patent portfolio through December 2010. The agreement also provides for the dismissal of all pending legal actions without prejudice between the two companies in U.S. District Court, California State Superior Court, the U.S. International Trade Commission, and Taiwan District Court as well. In the settlement agreement, TSMC covenants not to sue SMIC for itemized acts of trade secret misappropriation as alleged in the complaints, although the settlement does not grant a license to use any of TSMC’s trade secrets. The patent cross license and settlement agreement are terminable upon a breach by SMIC, which may result in the reinstitution of the legal proceedings and acceleration of the outstanding payments under the settlement agreement."
"We are pleased that the litigation has been settled peacefully and believe that the settlement is in the best interests of the Company’s long term development. As a young and growing company, we will continue to cooperate with international companies. We want to focus our resources on providing better foundry services to our customers."
The Company is currently in the process of finalizing its analysis of the impact of the settlement on the Company’s financial statements for the fourth quarter and the year ending December 31, 2004 under United States generally accepted accounting principles and other applicable accounting regulations. Therefore, the Company is unable to provide at this time, its results of operations for the fourth quarter of 2004 or any guidance relating to the first quarter of 2005, other than those contained in this release. The Company anticipates that it will be able to provide these results within four to six weeks time.
Conference call / Webcast announcement details
Date: January 31, 2005
Time: 8:00 a.m. Shanghai time
Dial-in numbers and access codes: U.S. 1-617-847-8709 or HK 852-3002-1672 (Pass codes: SMIC).
A live webcast of the fourth quarter results 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
SMIC (NYSE: SMI, SEHK: 0981.HK) is one of the leading semiconductor foundries in the world, providing integrated circuit (IC) manufacturing at 0.35-micron to 0.13-micron 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 addition, SMIC recently commenced pilot production at its 12-inch wafer fabrication facility in Beijing. SMIC maintains customer service and marketing offices in the U.S., Europe, and Japan. As part of its dedication towards providing high-quality services, SMIC strives to comply with or exceed international standards and has achieved ISO9001, ISO/TS16949, OHSAS18001, TL9000 and ISO14001 certifications. For more information, please visit http://www.smics.com.
Safe harbor statements
(Under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995)
This press release may 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 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 the impact of the settlement of the litigation with TSMC on the Company's financial statements for the fourth quarter and the year ended December 31, 2004 that the Company anticipates that it will be able to provide within four to six weeks time, risks associated with cyclicality and market conditions in the semiconductor industry, intense competition, timely wafer acceptance by SMIC's customers, timely 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 registration statement on Form F-1, as amended, filed with the SEC on March 11, 2004, 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
Evonne Hwang
Investor Relations Department
Tel: 86-21-5080-2000, ext. 16275
Fax: 86-21-5080-3619
For the full SMIC Quarter 4 Earnings Release, click the following link.
SMIC earnings release
