Hsinchu, Taiwan, October 30, 2018 – GlobalWafers Co., Ltd. (GWC) today announced Q3 2018 earning result: consolidated revenue of NT$15.16 billion, gross profit of NT$5.91 billion, operating profit of NT$4.72 billion, net income attributable to the parent company of NT$3.63 billion, and EPS of NT$8.31 for the third quarter ended September 30, 2018. Operating margin for the third quarter was 31.2%, net profit margin was 24%.
Year over year, the third quarter results represented a 26.6% increase in consolidated revenue, a 124.2% increase in operating income, a 119.8% increase in net income attributable to the parent company, and NT$4.53 up from its EPS for the same period last year. By end of September, the net prepayment amount received from customers had reached NT$22 billion which definitely provides a great help to the stability and certainty for GWC continuous growth. GWC achieved an all-time-best performance in Q3 2018 in various aspects as revenue, gross margin %, EPS, free cash flow and net prepayment received from customers.
GlobalWafers consolidated financial results as of Q3 2018: year over year, accumulated three quarters’ consolidated revenues totaled NT$43.44 billion, an increase of 28.7%. Gross profit was NT16.28 billion, an increase of 102.8%. Operating profit was NT$12.77 billion, an increase of 161.6%. Net income attributed to parent company was NT$9.91 billion, an increase of 200.9%. EPS was NT$22.66, a spectacular increase of NT$14.6, higher than its EPS of NT$12.68 for the full year 2017. GWC’s performance as of Q3 2018 has again hit an all time high and recorded the 11th consecutive growth in revenue.
The GWC board of directors today also adopted a proposal to buy back treasury stocks of 4,000,000 shares. Scheduled period for the buyback is from October 31, 2018 to December 28, 2018 at the price range of NT$250 to 300 per share. Ceiling on total monetary amount of the share buy-back shall be less than NT$1.2 billion. Continuous repurchase will be conducted provided the market price is lower than the indentified price range. The total number of the buy-back shares accounts for the Company’s issued shares by 0.9148%.
To meet the upcoming new demand for advanced 12-inch wafers from its customers, GWC’s fab in Korea (MEMC Korea Co.) has made an investment of US$438 million at its existing plant in Cheonan for additional 150K of production capacity per month. This expansion is made in accordance with customers’ Long Term Agreements (LTA) and thus the capital expenditure for this project is almost fully funded by customers’ prepayment. In addition, ASP of the project has been fixed and is expected to go higher than current prices for Q4 18. The capacity of the project has been 100% taken by LTA customers as well for more than five years from 2020.
According to SEMI’s report, total global silicon shipments have risen from 7,882 million square inches in 2008 to 11,617 million square inches in 2017 with an estimation of 13,778 million square inches to be expected for 2021, showing good signs of steady growth in the global silicon market. Indentified factors bringing up the increasing demand comes mainly from devices such as AI, communication, memory, automotive and power management applications. Meanwhile, most of GWC’s customers remain low level inventory of raw wafers. More LTAs and existing LTA extensions will be finalized with GWC to ensure long-term wafer supply for 2021 to 2023and beyond.
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