ASE May Report 3rd Straight Quarterly Loss in 4th Qtr (Update1)
By Alan Patterson
quote.bloomberg.com
Taipei, Feb. 21 (Bloomberg) -- Advanced Semiconductor Engineering Inc., the second-largest packager of chips, will probably post its third straight quarterly loss for the last three months of 2001 after sales fell by more than half.
ASE may say it turned to a fourth-quarter loss of NT$225 million ($6 million), or 7 NT cents a share, compared with a net income of NT$1.53 billion, or 55 NT cents, a year ago, based on the average of estimates from four analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News. ASE will report earnings tomorrow at 10 p.m. Taiwan time.
Taipei-based ASE, whose biggest customer is Motorola Inc., the second-largest mobile-phone maker, should return to profit by the middle of this year as the chip industry recovers from last year's record slump, some investors said. Still, that wouldn't prompt them to invest in the company, they said.
``ASE should come close to a breakeven in the second quarter,'' said Pedro Tai, who manages $120 million at ABN Amro Asset Management Taiwan Ltd. ``We would rather stick with upstream chipmakers because of their better earnings power.'' |
