Beijing (Reuters) -SEMiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. (0981.HK), the largest manufacturer of contractual china chips, said a 38.4% drop in annual sliding in terms of profit from the fourth quarter.
The profit attributable to minimum wage owners reached $ 107.6 million during the October-December quarter, compared to the estimation of $ 193.45 million analysts, according to LSEG data.
Turnover increased by 31.5% to $ 2.2 billion compared to market expectations of $ 2.18 billion, according to LSEG.
SMIC activities remain massively focused on mature knots for consumer electronics and household appliances, with advanced manufacturing projects such as Huawei smartphones chips representing only marginal part of its income.
While American export controls restrict access to advanced flea manufacturing technology, Chinese foundries, including SMIC, have intensified their concentration on this segment.
The change has borne fruit, the Chinese manufacturers gradually gaining market share in brief knots, which questions established players like Powarchip from Taiwan.
SMIC has increased capital investments in recent years to extend its production capacity and strengthen the capacities of the interior semiconductors of China.
Its capital expenses increased to $ 7.3 billion in 2023, compared to $ 4.5 billion in 2021, reflecting its aggressive expansion strategy. The company has invested still 7.33 billion dollars in 2024, according to its latest profits.
Heavy spending supported profitability, the gross margin of SMIC going to around 20% in 2023, against more than 30% in 2021-2022.
SMIC reported a gross margin of 22.6% in the fourth quarter of 2024, against 16.4% a year earlier.
(Report by Liam Mo and Brenda Goh, edition by Louise Heavens)
