HSINCHU, May 11, 2015 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ --

1Q15 Highlights (as compared to 4Q14):

• Net Revenue Was US$167.0 Million Compared to US$185.5 Million
• Gross Profit Was US$38.8 Million Compared to US$46.7 Million
• Gross Margin Was 23.3% Compared to 25.2%
• Operating Profit Was US$27.8 Million Compared to US$37.2 Million
• Net Earnings of US$0.42 Per Basic Common Share and US$0.42 Per Diluted Common Share Compared to US$0.65 Per Basic Common Share and US$0.64 Per Diluted Common Share
• Generated US$3.7 Million of Free Cash Flow after US$32.3 Million of CapEx
• Reduced Net Debt by US$7.1 Million
• Repurchased 0.5 million shares
• Retained Balance of Cash and Cash Equivalents at US$518.4 Million compared to US$488.6 Million

ChipMOS TECHNOLOGIES (Bermuda) LTD. ("ChipMOS" or the "Company") (Nasdaq: IMOS), an industry leading provider of outsourced semiconductor assembly and test services ("OSAT"), today reported unaudited consolidated financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2015. All U.S. dollar figures in this release are based on the exchange rate of NT$31.24 against US$1.00 as of March 31, 2015.

Net revenue for the first quarter of 2015 was NT$5,218.1 million or US$167.0 million, a decrease of 10.0% from NT$5,796.4 million or US$185.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2014 and an increase of 4.6% from NT$4,989.0 million or US$159.7 million for the same period in 2014. This is in-line with the Company's guidance, which called for revenue to decrease approximately 8% to 12%, as compared to the fourth quarter of 2014.

Net income for the first quarter of 2015 was NT$377.6 million or US$12.1 million, and NT$13.23 or US$0.42 per basic common share and NT$12.96 or US$0.42 per diluted common share, as compared to net income for the fourth quarter of 2014 of NT$589.1 million or US$18.8 million, and NT$20.31 or US$0.65 per basic common share and NT$19.88 or US$0.64 per diluted common share, and compared to net income in the first quarter of 2014 of NT$331.1 million or US$10.6 million, and NT$11.14 or US$0.36 per basic common share and NT$10.87 or US$0.35 per diluted common share.

The unaudited consolidated financial results of ChipMOS for the first quarter ended March 31, 2015 included the financial results of ChipMOS TECHNOLOGIES INC. ("ChipMOS Taiwan"), ChipMOS U.S.A., Inc., ThaiLin Semiconductor Corp. ("ThaiLin") and MODERN MIND TECHNOLOGY LIMITED and its wholly-owned subsidiary ChipMOS TECHNOLOGIES (Shanghai) LTD.

S.J. Cheng, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of ChipMOS, said, "The first quarter developed as expected and was in-line with our prior guidance. This is normally a seasonal lower quarter for the industry, with the volumes typically ramping as we move into the second half of the year.   Demand strength continued for large panels in our LCD driver business, which was offset by seasonally softer demand in our small panel LCD drivers and in memory products.  In memory, revenue in our DRAM business, led by softness in commodity DRAM demand, decreased 12.6% in the first quarter compared to the prior quarter.  Our flash business, including Mask ROM, declined approximately 27.0% over prior quarter.  Revenues from mixed-signal and gold bumping remained flat.  One bright spot was our WLSCP revenue, which grew 10.9% in the first quarter compared to the fourth quarter.  Reflecting the seasonally lower demand level, our overall capacity utilization rate declined to 72% in the first quarter compared to 81% in the prior fourth quarter and 77% in the same period last year.  Based on our outlook, we expect weakness from the first quarter to carry over to the second quarter.  We will continue to act conservatively with regards to our inventory management, CapEx spending and our operating expenses.  This is evidenced by our commitment and success at lowering our debt levels and fortifying our cash position and balance sheet.  We remain optimistic about our business focus and growth strategy, our CapEx plan and our continued corporate streamlining initiatives." 

S.K. Chen, Chief Financial Officer of ChipMOS, said, "The positive operating leverage in our business is seen by our gross margin which held at 23.3% on the lower quarterly revenue.  We ended the first quarter with US$518.4 million in cash and cash equivalents, after generating US$66.2 million in cash from operations.  As a result, we improved our net debt to equity ratio to -52.3% as of March 31, 2015 compared to -50.8% at the end of 2014, with a net cash balance of US$244.8 million as of March 31, 2015.  This is after we reduced our net debt by another US$7.1 million during the first quarter and after US$32.3 million of CapEx in the quarter.  On April 22, 2015, all of the necessary regulatory approvals for ThaiLin merger were rendered with no further comments.  The effective date of ThaiLin merger is expected to be on June 17, 2015.  This gives us added confidence as we move through the year, and pursue both corporate growth opportunities and catalysts around our restructuring efforts that can build further shareholder value."