SMIC Q4 revenue increased by 31.0%, while net profit attributable to shareholders decreased by 13.5% year-on-year | Financial Report Insights

Benefiting from an increase in the number of wafers sold and improved capacity utilization, SMIC's total operating revenue, operating profit, and total profit for Q4 2024 all achieved double-digit growth year-on-year; the net profit attributable to shareholders of the listed company, excluding non-recurring gains and losses, decreased year-on-year, mainly due to a decline in financial income.

The company expects a quarter-on-quarter revenue growth of 6% to 8% in Q1 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 higher than the average of comparable peers, and capital expenditures roughly in line with the previous year.

On the 11th, SMIC released its performance report for Q4 2024:

• Revenue: Q4 total operating revenue 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 USD, 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%. The net profit attributable to shareholders of the listed company was 999 million yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 13.5%; the net profit attributable to shareholders of the listed company, excluding non-recurring gains and losses, was 446 million yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 45.3%.
• Gross Margin: The gross margin for Q4 was 22.6%, an increase of 2.1 percentage points quarter-on-quarter.
• Basic Earnings Per Share: In the fourth quarter, the basic earnings per share were 0.12 yuan/share, a year-on-year decrease of 14.3%.

For the full year, the company's unaudited operating revenue for 2024 was 57.796 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 27.7%. The net profit 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 was 18%.

In terms of key operational indicators, SMIC's capital expenditures for 2024 were 7.33 billion USD, with an equivalent monthly production capacity of 948,000 8-inch standard logic wafers by the end of the year, total shipments exceeding 8 million wafers, and an average annual capacity utilization rate of 85.6%, reflecting the company's strong momentum in capacity expansion and utilization.

The company stated that the total operating revenue, operating profit, and total profit for Q4 2024 increased compared to the same period last year, mainly due to an increase in the number of wafers sold, improved capacity utilization, and changes in product mix. The net profit 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 financial income.

Looking ahead, SMIC remains cautiously optimistic about its performance in 2025. In the short term, the company expects a quarter-on-quarter sales revenue growth of 6-8% in Q1 2025, with a gross margin between 19%-21%. The company anticipates that the sales revenue growth in 2025 will exceed the average of comparable peers, with capital expenditures roughly in line with the previous year As of today's close, SMIC's A-shares and H-shares fell by 2.88% and 5.23%, respectively, closing at RMB 100.86 per share and HKD 45.3 per share.