China Brief | Chip foundry firm SMIC books USD 64.2 million in net profits, up 422.8% year-on-year

Shanghai-based Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC) (HKG: 0981) scored USD 904.9 million in revenue in the first quarter of this year, up 35.3% year-on-year, the company disclosed on Wednesday.

The firm, which is one of the major semiconductor foundries in China, made USD 64.2 million in net profits in the period, 422.8% more compared to last year.

Zhao Haijun and Liang Mong Song, SMIC’s co-chief executive officers, attributed the revenue growth to better-than-expected market demand, according to a press release included in the filing. The semiconductor firm is considered one of the world’s largest contract chip manufacturers, and recently, it started providing its chips to China’s major phone maker Huawei.

Read more: Shanghai Star Market outperforms other Chinese exchanges in first quarter

To meet demand from clients including communications equipment manufacturers and consumer product makers, the company increased its production lines’ output capacity for semiconductor wafers to 98.5%, compared with 89.2% in the same quarter of 2019, according to the filing.

SMIC also announced plans to issue up to 1.69 billion RMB-denominated new shares to public institutional and individual investors and list these common shares on the Shanghai Stock Exchange’s tech-focused Star Market, KrASIA reported.

This article is part of KrASIA’s “China Brief” section, where KrASIA’s reporters will provide quick daily updates about the tech ecosystem in China.