ChipMOS REPORTS FOURTH QUARTER AND FULL YEAR 2012 RESULTS

HSINCHU, Taiwan, March 18, 2013 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ --  

Full Year 2012 Highlights (as compared to the Full Year 2011):

• Net Revenue Increased 5.5% to US$661.6 Million from US$626.9 Million
• Gross Profit Increased to US$89.7 Million from US$55.0 Million
• Gross Margin Improved to 13.6% from 8.8%
• Net Earnings on a US GAAP Consolidated Basis was US$0.94 Per Basic and US$0.91 Per Diluted Share Compared to US$0.06 Per Basic and Diluted Share
• Generated US$99.0 Million of Free Cash Flow in 2012
• Balance of Cash and Cash Equivalents Increased to US$320.8 Million from US$253.3 Million
• Reduced Net Debt By US$13.1 Million in 2012
• Repurchased US$10.4 Million or 701 Thousand Shares in 2012
• Declared and Paid First Annual Dividend of US$0.14 Per Share

ChipMOS TECHNOLOGIES (Bermuda) LTD. ("ChipMOS" or the "Company") (Nasdaq: IMOS) today reported unaudited consolidated financial results for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2012. All U.S. dollar figures in this release are based on the exchange rate of NT$29.05 against US$1.00 as of December 31, 2012.

Net revenue on a US GAAP basis for the fourth quarter of 2012 was NT$4,867.4 million or US$167.6 million, an increase of 5.6% from NT$4,608.8 million or US$158.7 million for the same period in 2011 and a decrease of 5.3% from NT$5,139.9 million or US$176.9 million in the third quarter of 2012.

Net income on a US GAAP basis for the fourth quarter of 2012 was NT$253.3 million or US$8.7 million, and NT$8.97 or US$0.31 per basic common share and NT$8.74 or US$0.30 per diluted common share, as compared to net income for the fourth quarter of 2011 of NT$29.1 million or US$1.0 million, and NT$1.08 or US$0.04 per basic common share and NT$1.07 or US$0.04 per diluted common share.

Under US GAAP, net revenue for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2012 was NT$19,220.5 million or US$661.6 million, an increase of 5.5% from NT$18,210.9 million or US$626.9 million for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2011. Under US GAAP, net income for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2012 was NT$750.6 million or US$25.8 million, and NT$27.32 or US$0.94 per basic and NT$26.52 or US$0.91 per diluted common share, compared to net income for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2011 was NT$46.1 million or US$1.6 million, and NT$1.73 or US$0.06 per basic and NT$1.71 or US$0.06 per diluted common share.

The unaudited consolidated financial results of ChipMOS for the year ended December 31, 2012 included the financial results of ChipMOS TECHNOLOGIES INC., ChipMOS U.S.A., Inc., MODERN MIND TECHNOLOGY LIMITED and its wholly-owned subsidiary ChipMOS TECHNOLOGIES (Shanghai) LTD., and ThaiLin Semiconductor Corp.

S.J. Cheng, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of ChipMOS, said, "We accomplished a great amount in 2012, as we continued to drive the fundamental business improvements and capacity enhancements needed to secure our long-term success. We further executed on higher margin opportunities, including our leading position in the LCD driver assembly and test market, and growing share with the leading niche DRAM companies. At the same time, we maintained a disciplined CapEx approach. As a result, we expanded our full year 2012 net income by 16.3x after non-controlling interests as compared to 2011, and further strengthened our balance sheet. We ended 2012 with US$320.8 million in cash and cash equivalents, and improved our net debt to equity ratio to 0.1% as of December 31, 2012 compared to 22.6% at the end of 2011." 

S.K. Chen, Chief Financial Officer of ChipMOS, said, "Gross profit for the full year 2012 increased to US$89.7 million compared to US$55.0 million in 2011 resulting an expansion of our 2012 earnings, on the diluted common share basis, to US$0.91 per share from US$0.06 per share in 2011. For the full year 2012, our blended utilization rate was 76% compared to 75% in 2011. The improvement reflects the considerable growth in our LCD driver segment, which was up 9.3% for the full year 2012 compared to 2011, representing 23% of total revenue in 2012 compared to 22% in 2011. We continue to succeed by supporting and mutually growing with leaders in the LCD segment. We are also pleased with revenue growth in our bumping segment, which was up 25% for the full year 2012 compared to 2011, and represented 15% of total revenue compared to 13% in 2011. In addition to executing on our business strategy and financial management, we continue to pursue longer-term efforts to increase value for shareholders. For example, in 2012 we repurchased US$10.4 million or 701 thousand shares of ChipMOS common stock. We also paid our first annual dividend on December 18, 2012 of US$0.14 per share for a total cash cost of US$4.0 million. Finally, we continue to work with the local Taiwan Emerging Market regarding the potential Taiwan listing of our subsidiary, ChipMOS Taiwan, in Taiwan. We continue to view this as an excellent opportunity to better realize the inherent value of our company based on valuations of similar companies in our sector. This has been a long process that we expect to complete over the coming quarter. We have engaged an underwriter and are working to finalize the process in order to achieve an initial listing of shares on the Taiwan Emerging Market Exchange in 2Q13."

Business Outlook

The Company expects revenue for 1Q13 to be lower by approximately 9% to 13%, as compared to 4Q12, reflecting typical seasonality in the industry related to Chinese New Year and normal customer demand patterns. The Company expects to slightly offset this typical softness with continued growth in its LCD driver and mixed-signal business. The Company expects 1Q13 gross margin on a consolidated basis to be in the range of approximately 10% to 14%. The Company anticipates depreciation and amortization expenses for 1Q13 to be approximately US$32 million. Operating expenses are expected to be approximately 6% to 7% of revenues in 1Q13. The Company projects CapEx spending to be approximately US$24 million in 1Q13, with CapEx spending for the full year 2013 to be approximately US$100.0 million compared to US$95.6 million for the full year 2012. ChipMOS achieved a net cash positive balance in January 2013 and expects to end 1Q13 with a net cash positive balance. Common shares at the end of 1Q13 are expected to be approximately 28.9 million.

Mr. Cheng continued, "We currently expect that 1Q13 revenue will be the bottom for the year, followed by sequential growth in each quarter of 2013 and revenue for the full year 2013 coming in higher than the full year 2012. We have high confidence in our outlook for the full year 2013 given several positive catalysts specific to our business, and the expected improvement in the broader DRAM, NAND flash and Mobil RAM market pricing. We are proud to have achieved a net cash positive balance in January 2013. This is the first time in the Company's history and we expect to end 1Q13 with a net cash balance. ChipMOS is in an excellent market leadership and financial position allowing us to capture new growth opportunities. We continue to see higher demand related to smartphones, tablet PC and mobile applications. In order to meet higher customer demand levels in our LCD driver business, including bumping services, under our 2013 CapEx plan, our Board has approved a strategic investment to build an additional manufacturing facility with 8,000 wafers per month of 12-inch gold bump capacity. This would be in addition to our existing loading capacity of 16,000 wafers per month. We also plan to add assembly capacity for MEMS (Micro Electro Mechanical Systems), flip chip and WLCSP (Wafer Level Chip Scale Package) packaging, as well as certain LCD testing capacity. We are targeting to start bringing the additional capacity online by Q4 of 2013. Overall, with our strong customer portfolio and product mix, we have firmly established ChipMOS as one of the industry's most important outsourced semiconductor assembly and testing services companies. We continue to focus on building on our position in key markets, including our LCD driver assembly and test business, improving our financial strength and increasing shareholder value."

Investor Conference Call / Webcast Details

ChipMOS will review detailed fourth quarter and full year 2012 results on Monday, March 18, 2013 at 8:00AM ET (8:00PM, March 18, Taiwan time). The conference call-in number is +1-201-689-8562. A live webcast of the conference call will be available at ChipMOS' website at http://www.chipmos.com. The playback is scheduled to be available in 2 hours after the conclusion of the conference call and will be accessible by dialing +1-858-384-5517, with confirmation ID number 408537.

About ChipMOS TECHNOLOGIES (Bermuda) LTD.:

ChipMOS (http://www.chipmos.com) is a leading independent provider of semiconductor testing and assembly services to customers in Taiwan, Japan, and the U.S. With advanced facilities in Hsinchu and Southern Taiwan Science Parks in Taiwan and Shanghai, ChipMOS and its subsidiaries provide testing and assembly services to a broad range of customers, including leading fabless semiconductor companies, integrated device manufacturers and independent semiconductor foundries.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements contained in this announcement may be viewed as "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which may cause the actual performance, financial condition or results of operations of the Company to be materially different from any future performance, financial condition or results of operations implied by such forward-looking statements. Further information regarding these risks, uncertainties and other factors is included in the Company's most recent Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") and in the Company's other filings with the SEC.

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SOURCE ChipMOS TECHNOLOGIES (Bermuda) LTD.