UMC Revises Financial
Forecast for Fiscal Year 2000
Taipei,
Taiwan, R.O.C. - October 27, 2000 — United Microelectronics
Corporation (TAIEX: 2303, NYSE: UMC),
(UMC) today revised its financial forecast for year 2000.
The net sales forecast for fiscal year 2000, has been revised from
the previous forecast of NT$88,029 million to NT$105,507 million,
a 20% increase. The net income forecast for year 2000 has
been revised to NT$50,029 million, up from NT$30,036 million in
the previous estimation. Earnings per share has been revised
to NT$4.50 from the previous forecast of NT$2.67, based on the weighted-average
number of shares outstanding.
UMC is publishing this financial
forecast revision for year 2000 in accordance to the rules and regulations
laid out by the Republic of China Securities and Futures Exchange
as described in "Guidelines for Publishing of Financial Forecasts
of Public Companies."
The reasons for this revision include
the continued strength of the foundry industry, and UMC's increase
of 0.18um and below production. In addition, the combination
of an optimized product mix and a favorable exchange rate has benefited
the average selling price of wafers sold.
The audited year 2000 forecast numbers are
listed in the following table:
(Expressed in New Taiwan Thousand Dollars)
Item
Original Forecast
Update
Difference / %
Revenue
Gross Profit
Operating Income
Income Before Tax
Net Income
Earnings per share
UMC is one of the world's largest independent semiconductor
foundries and a leader in advanced process technology. The company
posted 1999 global sales of US$1.74 billion and US$2.34 billion
for the nine-month period ended September 30, 2000. UMC operates
fabs in Taiwan and Japan, and has two 12-inch fabs under construction.
A leader in foundry technology, UMC expects capacity to reach 3.4
million wafers per year in 2001, with over half in advanced 0.18
and 0.25-micron technology and is introducing standard 0.13-micron
technology in the year 2000. The company has marketing and customer
support offices located in the United States, Japan, and the Netherlands.
UMC's shares have been listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange since
1985 and the company's ADS trade on the NYSE under the symbol UMC.
One ADS represents five ordinary shares. Additional information
on the company is available on the web at http://www.umc.com
Safe Harbor Statement
Except for statements in respect of historical matters,
the statements in this release are "forward-looking statements"
within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities and Exchange
Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the U.S. Securities Act of 1934.
Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks,
uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual performance,
financial condition or results of operations of UMC to be materially
different from any future such matters implied by the statements.
Investors are cautioned that actual events and results could differ
materially from these statements as a result of a variety of factors,
including conditions in the overall semiconductor market and economy;
acceptance and demand for products, and technological and development
risks. The risks, uncertainties and factors include, among
others, those stated in the section entitled "Risk Factors" in our
Registration Statement on Form F-1 filed with the U.S. Securities
and Exchange Commission on September 15, 2000. The forecasted
financial statements included in this release were published on
October 23, 2000, in accordance with the Republic of China Securities
and Futures Commission's requirements. These statements were
also prepared and published in accordance with ROC GAAP; investors
are cautioned that there are differences between ROC GAAP and US
GAAP, as described for example in our Registration Statement filed
September 15, 2000, under Regulation F-1. The financial forecasts
and foreward looking statements in this release reflect the current
belief of UMC as of this date and UMC undertakes no obligation to
update this forecast for events or circumstances that occur subsequent
to this date.
Contacts:
Philip Lin / Ming-Kai Cheng UMC, Investor Relations + (886) 2-2700-6999 ext. 6957 Philip_Lin@umc.com Ming_Kai_Cheng@umc.com
