ChipMOS TECHNOLOGIES INC.

Greetings, and welcome to the Chipmo's first quarter 2024 results conference call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. A question-and-answer session will follow the formal presentation. I would now like to turn the conference over to Dr. G.S. Shen, of Chipmo's Technologies Strategy and Investor Relations team to introduce the management team of the company in conference. Dr. Shen, you may begin. Thank you, Operator. Welcome everyone to Chipmo's first quarter 2024 results conference call. Joining us today from the company are Mr. S.J. Chang, Chairman and President, and Ms. Sylvia Su, Vice President of Finance and Accounting Management Center. We are also joined on the call today by Mr. Jesse Huang, Spokesperson and Senior Vice President of Strategy and Investor Relations. S.J. will chair the meeting and review business highlights and provide color on the operating environment. After Sylvia's review of the company's key financial results, S.J. will provide our current business outlook. All company executives will then participate in an open Q&A session. Please note, we have posted a presentation on the MOPS and also on the Chipmos website www.chipmos.com to accompany today's conference call. Before we begin the prepared comments, we remind you to review our forward-looking statements disclaimer, which is noted as the safe harbor notice on the second page of today's presentation and in the results press release we issued. As a reminder, today's conference call is being recorded and a replay will be made available later today on the company's website. At this time, I'd like to now turn the call over to our company's chairman and president, Mr. S.J. Chang. Please go ahead. sir yes thank you gs we appreciate everyone joining our call today we are very pleased with our strong results and business execution in the face of industry headwinds and end market challenges we continue to carefully add capacity expand our leadership and build long-term value for shareholders in terms of q1 highlights Our Q1 revenue increased 17.7% compared to Q1 2023, and was down 5.4% from Q4 2023 reflecting fewer working days in Q1 and industry headwinds. Q1 gross margin increased 180 basis points to 14.2% from 12.4% in Q1 2023, and decreased 590 basis points compared to Q4 2023. Net earnings more than doubled to NT$0.6 in Q1 2024 on a year-over-year basis. Our overall utilization rate was strong at 63% in Q1 2024. Assembly utilization increased to 62% and average test utilization was 60%. DDIC was at 67% and bumping UT level increased to 61%. Regarding our manufacturing business, assembly represented 25.6% of Q1 revenue. Mixed signal and memory testing represented 20.4% and wafer bumping represented 21.3% of Q1 revenue. On a product basis, our DDIC product represented 32.5% of total revenue in Q1, with gold bumping representing about 18.6%. Revenue from DRAM and SRAM represented 16.3% of total Q1 revenue. Our mixed signal products represented 9.7%. As additional color on our business, our memory products represented 39.2% of total Q1 revenue. Memory product revenue increased 1.6% compared to Q4 2023, and increased 26.4% on a year-over-year basis. DRAM revenue decreased 3.6% compared to Q4 2023 and represented 15.8% of total Q1 revenue. Flash revenue represented about 23% of Q1 revenue, which was up 5.6% compared to Q4 2023. NAND Flash also benefited significantly from customers rebuilding inventory levels and increased 17.4% compared to Q4 2023. NAND flash represented 45.3% of Q1 total flash revenue. We are pleased with our growth in this important area to the company and expect growth throughout 2024 based on demand we see today. Moving on to driver IC and gold bump revenue, this represented about 51% of total Q1 revenue. This was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis but decreased 11% compared to Q4 2023. Of note, gold bump revenue was down 1.8% compared to Q4 2023 and DDIC revenue was down 15.5% compared to Q4 2023. Demand from auto panels drove more than 27% of our Q1 DDIC revenue. We continue to view automotive as an important mid- and long-term growth market for us. The most demanded auto features are reliant on semiconductors. As a result, semiconductor content is increasing at a rapid rate in models at all price points. Our track record of quality excellence and required qualifications gives us a competitive edge in serving auto customers. Regarding TDDI it represented around 20.7% of Q1 DDIC revenue, with OLED at 23.3% of Q1 DDIC revenue. On an end-market basis, total revenue from automotive and industrial represented about 22% of Q1 revenue. Smartphones-related demand represented 38.4% of Q1 revenue, and decreased 10.9% compared to Q4 2023. Consumer-related demand represented 20.5% of Q1 revenue, and increased to 6.3% compared to Q4 2023. TV's panel demand represented 15.8% of Q1 revenue, which was flat with Q4 2023. Lastly, computing accounted for 3.3% of Q1 revenue. Now let me turn the call to Ms. Sylvia Zug. review the first quarter 2024 financial results sylvia please go ahead thank you sj all dollar amounts cited in our presentation are in anti-dollars the following numbers are based on the exchange rates of anti-dollar 31.93 against one us dollar as of march 29 2024 All the figures were prepared in accordance with Taiwan International Financial Reporting Standards. Referencing Presentation Page 12 Consolidated Operating Results Summary For the first quarter of 2024, total revenue was NT$5,419 million. Net profit attributable to the company was NT$438 million in Q1. Net earnings for the first quarter of 2024 were NT$0.60 per basic common share or US$0.38 per basic ads. EBITDA for Q1 was NT$1,544 million. EBITDA was calculated by adding depreciation and amortization together with operating profit. Return on equity of Q1 was 7%. Referencing presentation page 13 Consolidated statements of comprehensive income. Compared to 4Q23. Total 1Q24 revenue decreased 5.4% compared to 4Q23. 1Q24 gross profit was NT$771 million, with gross margin at 14.2% compared to 20.1% in 4Q23. This represents a decrease of 5.9 ppts. Our operating expenses in 1Q24 were NT$430 million, or 7.9% of total revenue, which decreased 3.5% compared to 4Q23. Operating profit for 1Q24 was NT$363 million, with operating profit margin at 6.7%, which is about a 5.8 ppts decrease compared to 4Q23. Net non-operating income in 1Q24 were NT$156 million compared to net non-operating expenses of NT$137 million in 4Q23. The difference is mainly due to the increase of the foreign exchange gains of NT$348 million from the foreign exchange losses of NT$195 million in 4Q23 to the foreign exchange gains of NT$153 million in 1Q24 and partially offset by the decrease of share of profit of associates accounted for using equity method of NT$55 million. Profit attributable to the company in 1Q24 decreased 9.2% compared to 4Q23. This primarily reflects the decrease of operating profit of NT$352 million and partially offset by an increase of net non-operating income of NT$293 million and the decrease of income tax expense of NT$14 million. Basic weighted average outstanding shares were 727 million shares. compared to 1Q23. Total revenue for 1Q24 increased 17.7% compared to 1Q23. Gross margin at 14.2% increased 1.8 ppts compared to 1Q23. Operating expenses increased 7.2% compared to 1Q23. Operating profit margin at 6.7% increased 2.7 ppts compared to 1Q23. Net non-operating income increased NT$113 million compared to 1Q23. The difference is mainly due to the increase of the foreign exchange gains of NT$197 million from the foreign exchange losses of NT$44 million in 1Q23 to the foreign exchange gains of NT$153 million in 1Q24 and partially offset by the decrease of share of profit of associates accounted for using equity method of NT$44 million, rental income of NT$16 million and interest income of NT$13 million. Profit attributable to the company increased 116.3% compared to 1Q23. The difference is mainly due to an increase of operating profit of NT$178 million and net non-operating income of NT$113 million and partially offset by the increase of income tax expense of NT$55 million. Referencing Presentation Page 14 Consolidated Statements of Financial Position and Key Indices Total Assets at the end of 1Q24 were NT$45,563,000 Total Liabilities at the end of 1Q24 were NT$20,280,000 Total Equity at the end of 1Q24 was NT$25,283,000 Accounts receivable turnover days in 1Q24 were 88 days. Inventory turnover days was 51 days in 1Q24. Referencing Presentation Page 15 Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows As of March 31, 2024, our balance of cash and cash equivalents was NT$12,165 million. which represents a decrease of NT$189 million compared to the beginning of the year. Net free cash inflow for the first quarter of 2024 was NT$800 million compared to NT$1033 million for the same period in 2023. The decrease was mainly due to the increase of CapEx of NT$319 million and income tax expense of NT$55 million and partially offset by the increase of operating profit of NT$178 million. Free cash flow was calculated by adding depreciation, amortization, interest income together with operating profit and then subtracting CapEx, interest expense, income tax expense and dividend from the sum. Referencing presentation page 16 Capital Expenditures and Depreciation. We invested NT$633 million in CapEx in Q1. The breakdown of CapEx in Q1 was 4.4% for bumping, 22.4% for LCD driver, 46.8% for assembly and 26.4% for testing. Depreciation expenses were NT$1,181 million in Q1. As of April 30, 2024 the company's outstanding ads number was approximately 4.3 million units, which represents around 12% of the company's outstanding common shares. That concludes the financial review. I will now turn the call back to our chairman Mr. S.J. Cheng for our outlook. Please go ahead, sir. Thank you, Sylvia. According to the current industry situation and customers' feedback, we are cautiously optimistic entering Q2. Industry headwinds are expected to remain in nearly every end market. We expect Q1 to be the seasonal trough quarter for 2024, which is in line with normal industry seasonality. We expect the broader market condition will improve as we move through 2024 leading to a stronger the second half with improved operating momentum, end markets, and end customer inventory levels. In our memory product, the assembly and test UT level are improving with DRAM and flash customers restocking. In our DDIC product, the automotive panel and OLED demand still remain stable compared to other products. This leads to the high UT level of high-end DDIC test platforms. In additional, benefiting the TV rush order, it is increasing the related assembly and test UT level. Therefore, we think DDIC will outgrow memory product momentum in Q2. With regard to CAPEX, based on current customer forecasts and UT level improving, we plan to support customers with careful CAPEX additions, including our DDIC high-end test platform in the second half of the year. We will continue to be disciplined in order to maintain our balance sheet strength while also maintaining our business growth momentum and competitive advantage. In general, based on market commentary across the industry, we expect the inventory situation to improve as we move through the second half with headwinds decreasing. Finally, in terms of our capital allocation, our board approved our latest dividend. This reflects our balance sheet strength, strong market position and our focus on building shareholder value. Pending shareholder approval at our May 2024 AGM, we will distribute NT$1.8 per common share. Operator, that concludes our formal remarks, we can now take questions. Operator, thank you. At this time, We will be conducting a question and answer session. Our first question comes from Hus from UBS. You may begin.

Yes, hi, Jess, Dr. Sun, and then Jim Kim. Thanks for taking my questions. If possible, I will use English to ask questions for the overseas investors, and you could respond in English or Chinese. So my first question would be on your business outlook for 2Q. As you just mentioned, with the supply chain, the TV demand outlook is still solid into the sports events, while the smartphone demand remains pretty muted. On the memory business, demand, as you just mentioned, the pricing and also the demand has been improving. So could you try to quantify your business outlook for second quarter? And could you rank the relative strength and the weakness for your business during the quarter? Thank you so much.

Okay, this is Jesse speaking for your question. So I'll give you some of the arranging respectively based on memory and DDIC. For DDIC, as Chairman mentioned, we see the OLED and automotive rotation related to maintaining the momentum, and since we have different domestic or overseas customers for DDIC. So recently we did see the TV large panel driver IC requirement looks better, improved it recently. And for the small panel one, maybe as you mentioned here, muted. As for memory, Both of DRAM and Flash customers' requirements have been improving, followed by previous NAND Flash demand. Recently, we also see some of our NAND Flash customers started to pick up their utilization and also some of their loading to most. This is a mode of color that I can share with you.