Benefiting from an increase in the number of wafers sold and improved capacity utilization,$SMIC (00981.HK)$In Q4 2024, total revenue, operating profit, and total profit all achieved double-digit growth year-on-year; net income attributable to shareholders of the listed company, excluding non-recurring gains and losses, decreased year-on-year, primarily due to a decline in capital gains.

The company expects a 6% to 8% quarter-on-quarter increase in revenue for the first quarter of 2025, with a gross margin of 19%-21%. Assuming no significant changes in the external environment, the company's guidance for 2025 is: sales revenue growth will exceed the average of comparable peers, and capital expenditures will remain roughly the same as the previous year.

On the 11th, Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation released its performance report for Q4 2024:

• Revenue: Total revenue for Q4 reached 15.917 billion yuan, an increase of 31.0% compared to 12.152 billion yuan in the same period last year. Sales revenue exceeded 2.2 billion dollars, with a quarter-on-quarter growth of 1.7%.

• Profit: In Q4, the company achieved an operating profit of 2.746 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 57.8%; total profit was 2.738 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 63.9%. Net income attributable to shareholders of the listed company was 0.992 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 13.5%; net income attributable to shareholders of the listed company, excluding non-recurring gains and losses, was 0.446 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 45.3%.

• Gross margin: In the fourth quarter, the gross margin was 22.6%, an increase of 2.1 percentage points compared to the previous quarter.

• Basic EPS: In the fourth quarter, the company's basic EPS was 0.12 yuan/share, a year-on-year decrease of 14.3%.

For the whole year, the company's unaudited revenue for 2024 is 57.796 billion yuan, an increase of 27.7% year-on-year. The net income attributable to shareholders of the listed company was 3.699 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 23.3%. The gross margin for 2024 is 18%.

In terms of key Operation Indicators, Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation's capital expenditure for 2024 is 7.33 billion dollars, with an end-of-year equivalent of 0.948 million pieces of 8-inch standard logic monthly production capacity, total shipments exceeding 8 million pieces, and an annual average capacity utilization rate of 85.6%, reflecting the company's good momentum in capacity expansion and utilization.

The company stated that in the fourth quarter of 2024, total revenue, operating profit, and total profits increased compared to the same period last year, mainly due to the increased number of wafer sales, improved utilization rate, and changes in product mix. The net income attributable to shareholders of the listed company, excluding non-recurring gains and losses, decreased compared to the same period last year, mainly due to a decline in funds income.

Looking ahead, Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation maintains a cautiously optimistic outlook for 2025 performance. In the short term, the company expects a 6-8% quarter-on-quarter growth in sales revenue in the first quarter of 2025, with a gross margin between 19%-21%. The company expects the sales revenue increase in 2025 to be higher than the average of comparable peers, with capital expenditure roughly in line with the previous year.

As of today's close, Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation's A and Listed in Hong Kong shares fell by 2.88% and 5.23%, respectively, closing at 100.86 yuan/share and 45.3 Hong Kong dollars/share.

Editor/ping