Property sales put China’s SMIC into the black

Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. (SMIC), China’s largest chip maker, reported a small profit for the final quarter of 2006 as the sale of property helped put the company back into the black after heavy third-quarter losses.

SMIC executives were buoyed by the improved quarterly results and promised more to come this year. “For 2007, the entire year, our goal is try to be profitable,” said Richard Chang, SMIC’s CEO, during a conference call with investors.

SMIC reported fourth-quarter net income of $1.2 million on sales of $384 million. By comparison, the company reported a loss of $14.8 million on sales of $333 million during the same period one year earlier. SMIC’s results also showed improvement on a sequential basis: the company reported a loss of $31.3 million on sales of $367 million during the third quarter of 2006.

SMIC’s slim fourth-quarter profit was due to lower operating costs during the period, which fell from $46.2 million during the third quarter to $10.6 million in the fourth quarter — a 77 percent decline.

The drop in operating expenses was made possible by a $41.7 million gain recorded during the period from the sale of properties held by the company, SMIC said. The company did not detail what properties were sold. Excluding this gain, SMIC’s operating expenses during the fourth quarter were $52.3 million, up 13.2 percent over the previous period.

This marks the second time that SMIC was helped into the black during 2006 by a one-time gain. During the second quarter of 2006, a $18.9 million tax credit helped push the company to a $2.2 million profit.

Looking ahead, SMIC expects its first-quarter revenue to be flat compared with the fourth quarter, Chang said. The company also aims to limit capital expenditures to $720 million in 2007 and 2008.