TSMC posts Q4 revenue

Taiwan Semiconductor Mfg Co. (TSMC) announced revenue of about $2.54 billion, net income of around $1.06 billion, and fully diluted earnings per share of 0.043 cents per share for Q4 ended Dec. 31, 2005.

According to the press release, the Q4 results represent a 17.2 percent increase in revenue, and a 38.4 percent increase in both net income and fully diluted EPS. Year-over-year Q4 revenue increased 27.1 percent while net income and fully diluted EPS both increased 52.8 percent. All figures were prepared in accordance with R.O.C. GAAP on an unconsolidated basis, said TSMC.

In addition, gross margin for Q4 climbed 5 percentage points to 49.1 percent, due to higher levels of capacity utilization and more favorable currency exchange rates. Advanced process technologies accounted for 49 percent of wafer revenues while revenues from 90nm process technology alone reached 17 percent of the total wafer sales. Overall utilization was 104 percent. Operating margin jumped from 36 percent in Q3 to 42.2 percent in Q4, and net margin improved to 41.8 percent from 35.4 percent quarter over quarter.

Lora Ho, VP and chief financial officer of TSMC, stated, "We expect our operating performance for the coming quarter to be better than the average seasonal pattern, but an anticipated depreciation of the U.S. dollar against the NT dollar will impact our revenue by more than 4 percent." Ho added that management also expects that 2006 capital expenditure will be in the range of $2.6 billion to $2.8 billion.