United Microelectronics Corporation (NYSE:UMC) Q4 2023 Earnings Call Transcript January 31, 2024 4:00 AM ET

Company Participants

Michael Lin - Investor Relations

Chi-Tung Liu - CFO, SVP, Head, Corporate Governance & Company Secretary

Jason Wang - President & Representative Director

Conference Call Participants

Randy Abrams - UBS

Nicholas Barrett - Macquarie

Gokul Hariharan - JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Bruce Lu - Goldman Sachs Group

Charlie Chan - Morgan Stanley

Brett Simpson - Arete

Laura Chen - Citi

Operator

Welcome, everyone, to UMC's 2023 Fourth Quarter Earnings Conference Call. [Operator Instructions]. For your information, this conference call is now being broadcasted live over the Internet. Webcast replay will be available within an hour after the conference is finished. Please visit our website, www.umc.com, under the Investor Relations, Investors Events section.

Now I would like to introduce Mr. Michael Lin, Head of Investor Relations at UMC. Mr. Lin, please begin.

Michael Lin

Thank you, and welcome to UMC's conference call for the fourth quarter of 2023. I am joined by Mr. Jason Wang, President of UMC; and Mr. Chi-Tung Liu, the CFO of UMC. In a moment, we will hear our CFO present the fourth quarter financial results, followed by our President's key message to address UMC's focus and the first quarter of 2024 guidance. Once our President and CFO complete their remarks, there will be a Q&A section. UMC's quarterly financial reports are available at our website, www.umc.com, under the Investors Financial section.

During this conference, we may make forward-looking statements based on management's current expectations and beliefs. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially, including the risk that may be beyond the company's control. For a more detailed description of these risks and uncertainties, please refer to our recent and subsequent filings with the SEC and the ROC security authorities. During this conference, you may view our financial presentation material, which is being broadcast live through the Internet.

Now, I would like to introduce UMC's CFO, Mr. Chi-Tung Liu, to discuss UMC's fourth quarter 2023 financial results.

Chi-Tung Liu

Thank you, Michael. I would like to go through the 4Q 2023 investor conference presentation material, which can be downloaded or viewed in real-time from our website.

Starting on Page 4. The fourth quarter of 2023, consolidated revenue was NT54.96 billion with gross margin at 32.4%.

Net income attributable to the stockholder of the parent was NT13.2 billion. Earnings ordinary shares were NT1.06 in Q4 2023. On Page 5, this is the sequential performance. Revenue declined 3.7% quarter-over-quarter to NT54.9 billion. Gross margin rate dropped roughly 3.5 percentage point to 32.4% or NT17.8 billion, with a net non-operating income of NT2.22 billion, the net income come to NT13.19 billion or EPS of NT1.06. This is compared to NT1.29 in the previous quarter of 2023.