Vanguard International Semiconductor (VIS) has raised its capex budget for 2021 by 70% to NT$8.5 billion (US$303.8 million), with plans to purchase more fab equipment supporting its long-term expansion projects.
The 8-inch foundry house initially planned to spend NT$5 billion on new facilities and equipment this year, up 41% from the amount of NT$3.45 billion spent a year earlier.
The latest increase in the budget does not include the firm's previous announcement to purchase an older fab from AU Optronics (AUO) for NT$905 million, a deal that is set to complete in January 2022 with the required expenses to be included in next year's capex, said VIS.
The company is accelerating its capacity ramps this year, as it has received commitments from a number of clients for long-term capacity demand, said company chairman Leuh Fang at its latest investors conference.
Those clients are also willing to share costs associated with related expansion projects, Fang added.
"Demand for 8-inch foundry capacity is tight and our capacities are fully loaded," Fang said. The firm's order visibility is clearer than that seen in the past, he added, expecting the firm's capacity utilization rate to stand at high levels throughout 2021.
VIS' 8-inch wafer capacity will reach 238,000 units monthly in second-quarter 2021 and increase slightly to 2.889 million units for all of the year, Fang revealed.
The company has reported record-high net profit of NT$2.213 billion for the first quarter of 2021, up 21.43% sequentially and 46.36% on year.
EPS for the first quarter stood at NT$1.34 compared to NT$1.10 in the previous quarter and NT$0.89 a year earlier.
It expects its ASP to hike 5% in the second quarter, pushing the quarter's revenues to NT$9.8-10.2 billion from NT$9.18 billion a quarter earlier, gross margin to 39-41% from 38.1%, and operating margin to 27.5-29.5%.
VIS chairman Leuh Fang
Photo: Shihmin Fu, Digitimes, May 2021
