STATS ChipPAC cuts Q1 loss by 86.7% to US$2.1m

SEMICONDUCTOR-PACKAGING and test-services company STATS ChipPAC pared its net loss by 86.7 per cent to US$2.1 million in the first quarter ended March 29, 2015, from US$15.8 million in the same period last year. This came on 1.5 per cent increase in revenue to US$371 million, from US$365.4 million in the year-ago quarter.

STATS ChipPAC's president and CEO, Tan Lay Koon, said the revenue for the first quarter was 8.8 per cent lower than the prior sequential quarter, while net income was US$3.5 million, as the company saw seasonal weakness in its personal computer and consumer end markets.

"In the wireless communication market, we continued to see strength in demand for emerging market handsets as well as product ramps for new high performance smartphones and wearable devices," he added.

Gross margin for the first quarter of 2015 was 10.5 per cent compared to 10 per cent in the year-ago quarter and 12.1 per cent in the prior quarter.

Operating margin for the quarter was 2.1 per cent of revenue, compared to 0.7 per cent in the year-ago quarter and 3.1 per cent in the prior quarter.

Dennis Chia, chief financial officer of STATS ChipPAC, noted that the company's adjusted Ebitda (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) during the first quarter was US$83.2 million or 22.4 per cent of revenue, compared to US$78.4 million and US$96.7 million or 21.4 per cent and 23.8 per cent of revenue in the first quarter of 2014 and the prior quarter, respectively.