Taiwan's TSMC Q3 net profit climbs 28% to quarterly record

[TAIPEI] Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co's (TSMC) third-quarter net profit jumped 28 per cent, hitting a new quarterly record, as analysts said earnings were boosted by sales of chips and processors for Apple Inc's new iPhone 7.

The world's largest contract chipmaker said in a statement on Thursday that net profit in the July-September period climbed to NT$96.8 billion (S$4.2 billion) from NT$75.3 billion a year earlier.

That was above with the NT$95.2 billion mean forecast in a Thomson Reuters/Eikon survey of analysts, easily topping the previous record of NT$80 billion, booked for the fourth quarter of 2014.

TSMC third-quarter revenue rose 23 per cent to NT$260.4 billion, another quarterly record and ahead of guidance the company offered in July. Last week TSMC reported revenue for the first nine months of this year was up 7.1 per cent to NT$685.71 billion, including a 39 per cent jump for September alone.

The strong third-quarter performance means that with three months of the year to go, some analysts expect the firm will be able to beat its guidance for 5-10 per cent growth in revenue for the whole of 2016.

REUTERS