Faraday Reported 2012 Fourth Quarter Results

Fourth Quarter 2012 Highlights:

Year-over-year revenue increased 60.2% to NT$2,068 million (US$70.85million)
Gross margin, 37.0%
Net income of NT$207 million (US$7.10 million)
Earnings per share of NT$0.52 for the quarter

Hsinchu, Taiwan -- February 6, 2013 -- Faraday Technology Corporation (TSE: 3035), a leading fabless ASIC service and silicon IP provider, today announced its unconsolidated operating results for the quarter ended December 31, 2012. The fourth quarter revenue was NT$2,068 million, while net income and basic earnings per share came to NT$207 million and NT$0.52, respectively.

The Q4 revenue was lower than the previous guidance due to the weaker market demand than expected, covering almost all application sectors. However, it was still the second highest quarterly result, and the relatively higher percentage of ASIC MP (mass production) led to a 1% decline of corporate margin, coming to 37%.

The Y2012 revenue was NT$8.1 billions by a 52% year-over-year growth, and was a record-high number since Faraday was established in Y1993. The brilliant business result was mainly contributed by the customer-proven reliable and smooth mass production in Consumer sector, and the surging market demand in the mobile device applications.

In Y2012, in addition to the attentive Consumer sector, Faraday keeps devoting to the Communication field and has made great achievements in both market expansion and technology development. In market wise, the project of smart grid has started with small but stable mass production, the 40nm base station was at sample-delivery stage as scheduled, and the Ethernet bridge kept with good shipment, continuously kicking in new projects. In technology wise, Faraday and UMC jointly completed a 300 million gate-count SoC at 40nm; its high complexity and technology challenges have demonstrated the full spectrum of Faraday’s SoC capabilities. Furthermore, Faraday’s focus of Communication sector, with features of high entry-barrier, long product-life, and stable market price, is expected to be the key growth driver in Y2013, and beyond.

Looking into ‘13Q1, the revenue is projected to decline caused by the low-season impact, and the high revenue base of ’12Q4. However, the percentage will be smaller than that of previous years on account of a better outlook of most application sectors. More importantly, the adjustment of product mix will greatly benefit the corporate margin, rising back to 40% up.

Summary of Operating Results

Detailed Financials Section

Analysis of Revenue

About Faraday

Faraday Technology Corporation is a leading silicon IP and fabless ASIC vendor. The company's broad IP portfolio includes 32-bit RISC CPUs, DSPs, PHY/Controllers for USB 2.0, Ethernet, and Serial ATA. With 2011 revenue of US$ 176 million, Faraday is one of the largest fabless ASIC companies in the Asia-Pacific region, and it also has a significant presence in other world-wide market. Headquartered in Taiwan, Faraday has service and support offices around the world, including the U.S., Japan, Europe, and China. For more information, please visit: http://www.faraday-tech.com