(By Balaseshan) Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. (NYSE: SMI) swung to a quarterly profit on lower operating expenses and higher sales. Wafers shipment surged 63% and an increase in capacity utilization were also attributed to the higher results.
Earnings for the fourth quarter were $39.66 million or $0.06 per American Depository Share (ADS), compared to a loss of $165.21 million or $0.30 per ADS last year.
Sales for the quarter jumped 67.8% to $485.89 million.
Wafers shipped including copper interconnects (in 8-inch equivalent wafers) climbed 62.6% to 608,372. Capacity utilization for the latest quarter was 90.5%, up from 65.6% in the same period last year.
Operating expenses fell 48.6% to $44.04 million, mainly due to gain arising from the disposal of part of the living quarters in Shanghai.
Looking ahead into the first quarter, the company expects revenue to be up 1% to down 2% and gross margin to range from 17.5% to 19.5%. Operating expenses excluding the effect of foreign exchange, government R&D grants and assets disposal are expected to range from $74 million to $77 million.
For the fiscal 2013, the company projects capital expenditure for foundry operations to be about $600 million.
SMI is trading up 2.88% at $3.22 on Wednesday. The stock has been trading between $1.47 and $3.24 for the past 52 weeks.