Taiwan ProMOS Ups 2003 Capex To US$170M From US$100M
Thursday June 26, 3:10 am ET
TAIPEI -(Dow Jones)- ProMOS Technologies Inc. , one of Taiwan's largest memory chipmakers, raised its capital spending plans for this year to boost production at an advanced chip plant in Taiwan, an executive at the firm said Thursday.
The company increased its capital spending forecast for 2003 to US$170 million from an earlier estimate of US$100 million, said Albert Lin, a board director at ProMOS.
Last year, the firm spent US$200 million on new chip making equipment.
The new spending is to equip its advanced, 12-inch chip plant with finer etching technology, allowing it to produce smaller, faster chips.
In 2004, ProMOS plans to spend around US$210 million, said Lin.
ProMOS has also continued negotiations with its former technology and production partner, German chip giant Infineon Technologies AG , Lin said.
"I think (Infineon) is interested in a quick settlement" due in part to rising chip prices, said Lin. He said he couldn't predict when a deal may be reached.
The firms are negotiating the possibility of ProMOS licensing chip production technology from Infineon, and the Taiwan company then selling a portion of its output to Infineon.
The spot price of mainstream, 256 megabit double data rate DRAM chips that run at 266 megahertz, or DDR-266, has risen steadily for the past month. On Thursday, DDR-266 chips were quoted at US$3.61 each, compared with their recent low of US$2.95 in mid-May, according to DRAMeXchange, an online clearinghouse for the chips.
ProMOS was developed as a joint venture between Infineon and Mosel Vitelic Inc. that started in 1996.
However, Infineon earlier this year announced it would sell its stake in ProMOS after a dispute with Mosel.
Infineon applied last week to Taiwan's stock market regulator to sell its remaining 603.2 million shares in ProMOS.
A new technology licensing agreement would be one way for Infineon to get paid again for technology it develops for its own use - and for other licensees.
Lin also said a planned global depositary receipt issue equivalent to 450 million common shares, which the company announced Wednesday, will likely be done in the fourth quarter. A tentative price of NT$15 (US$1=NT$34.575) per share has been set, he said. |
