Taiwan's UMC posts quarterly loss

TAIPEI, Taiwan - Taiwan's United Microelectronics Corp., the world's second larger contract chip maker by revenue, said Tuesday it posted a second consecutive quarterly loss because of sharply weaker demand for wafers.

UMC lost 23.51 billion New Taiwan dollars ($692.22 million) in the fourth quarter of 2008, it said. The company lost NT$1.41 billion in the third quarter, the first time it plunged into the red since the fourth quarter in 2001.

Chief Executive Sun Shih-wei said a sharp decline in demand for wafers contributed to the loss, but the worst may have passed.

"UMC's internal indicators have shown signs that the demand drop may have bottomed out, and we are closely watching for signs of recovery," he said in a statement.

Revenue amounted to NT$18.54 billion in the final quarter of 2008, down 33 percent from the same period in 2007.

Chief Financial Officer Liu Chi-tung said the fourth quarter loss partly came from "poor returns from financial investments."

"But our finance is in a good shape," Liu said. The company had NT$36.12 billion in cash at the end of December.

UMC lost NT$22.32 billion for the full year.

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