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Technology Stocks : Applied Materials No-Politics Thread (AMAT) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Proud_Infidel who wrote (8658)	1/30/2004 10:12:22 AM
From: Proud_Infidel	Respond to of 25522

UPDATE - Chartered Semi trims Q4 loss, sees strong Q1 Friday January 30, 12:52 am ET By Jennifer Tan (Changes dateline, recasts, adds company, analyst comment) SINGAPORE, Jan 30 (Reuters) - Struggling microchip-maker Chartered Semiconductor reported a third year of losses on Friday, but losses narrowed in the fourth quarter on booming demand for chips used in mobile phones and wireless routers. The surge encouraged the company to forecast a return to an operating profit in the first quarter of 2004, earlier than previous analyst forecasts for a profit in the third quarter. Singapore-based Chartered (SES:CSMF.SI - News; NasdaqNM:CHRT - News), the world's fourth-largest supplier of made-to-order microchips, unveiled a smaller-than-expected net loss of $43.2 million for the three months to December 31. This compares with a loss of $108.7 million in the year-ago period and a loss of $75.9 million in the September quarter. According to Reuters Estimates the consensus forecast was for a net loss of $46.4 million in the December quarter. "Our revenue growth rate far outpaced that of the industry in the fourth quarter, and we expect the same in the first quarter of 2004," Chief Executive Chia Song Hwee told analysts in a conference call. Demand for chips for cellphones, wireless local area network routers, DVD recorders and players drove revenues in the December quarter and Chartered expected this surge to continue into 2004. Demand for chips for personal computers was flat, it said. Shares of Chartered rose nearly two percent to S$1.83 on Friday after its results. At midday, it was up one cent at S$1.81. The stock has more than doubled in 2003 in anticipation of a recovery in the chip sector. "Chartered's Q4 was above expectations, its Q1 guidance was also a surprise," said G.K. Goh Securities analyst Jatin Doktor. "This is thanks to strong (industry) demand and a couple of new customers starting volume production. It wouldn't surprise me if Chartered reported a profit in the second quarter." STRONG Q1 SEEN Chartered's larger rival Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd (Taiwan:2330.TW - News), has also benefited from rising consumer demand for camera phones and flat-panel TVs. The world's largest contract microchip maker posted a six-fold jump in fourth-quarter profit and said it expects the first quarter to be as good. Chartered's fourth-quarter revenue was $182.8 million, up 69 percent from a year ago and 33 percent from the previous quarter. The company, which supplies to Broadcom Corp (NasdaqNM:BRCM - News) and Motorola Inc (NYSE:MOT - News), last month forecast a 28 to 30 percent rise in fourth-quarter sales from the third quarter. For 2003, Chartered lost $284.8 million, versus $417.1 million in 2002. Reuters Research had a full-year consensus net loss estimate of $288 million. For the January to March quarter, the company is expecting a 21-24 percent rise in revenues to $221-$227 million, with a net loss of between $3.6 million and $13.6 million. Excluding a restructuring charge of $3 million from an older factory that it closed down, and a $13 million share of losses from a joint-venture fab, Chartered expected a $7 million profit in the first quarter. The company is targeting capital expenditure of $700 million for 2004. It had $1.2 billion cash as at end-2003. Most of the money would be used to equip its most advanced 300-mm factory, Fab 7, slated to begin production in the third quarter. The plant, which could cost up to $3 billion to outfit, will start commercial production in 2005. Chia refused to be drawn on whether Chartered would raise funds from the capital markets this year, but said the firm had many funding options. "We will have almost half a billion dollars in cash going into 2005 and as our results continue to improve, we expect to generate more cash from operations," he added.