(Yicai) Feb. 12 -- Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation, China’s leading chipmaker, said profit fell 23 percent last year mainly because of a decrease in investment and financial income.

Net profit was CNY3.7 billion (USD506.3 million) in the 12 months ended Dec. 31, the Shanghai-based foundry said in a financial report released yesterday. After deducting non-recurring items, it fell 19 percent to CNY2.7 billion. Revenue rose 28 percent to CNY57.8 billion (USD7.9 billion). 

For the fourth quarter of last year, profit dropped nearly 14 percent to CNY992 million (USD135.7 million) from a year earlier. Revenue soared 31 percent to CNY15.9 billion, while gross profit hit CNY3.4 billion, and the gross margin was 21 percent.

SMIC expects revenue to climb 6 percent to 8 percent this quarter from the prior one, with a gross margin of between 19 percent and 21 percent. Annual income growth should outpace industry peers this year, while capital expenditure will likely remain flat from last year's USD7.3 billion, barring any significant changes in the external environment, it pointed out.

SMIC's capacity utilization rate stood at 86 percent last quarter, down from 90 percent in the third quarter of 2024, the firm said, adding that the improved financial performance was mainly due to increased wafer shipments, higher capacity utilization, and an optimized product mix.

Against the backdrop of a rally in Chinese tech stocks, SMIC [SHA: 688981] closed up 3.4 percent at CNY104.32 (USD14.27) a share in Shanghai today, bringing this year’s gain to 16 percent.

Editor: Martin Kadiev