For its fiscal fourth-quarter 2012 (to end-August), LED chip and component maker SemiLEDs Corp of Hsinchu Science Park, Taiwan has reported revenue of $5.5m, up 3% on $5.3m a year ago but down 40% on $9.2m. last quarter. Revenue for full-year fiscal 2012 was $29.3m, down 14% on fiscal 2011's $33.9m.
Founded in 2005, SemiLEDs' manufactures proprietary blue, green and ultraviolet (UV) LED chips under the MvpLED (metal vertical photon LED) brand for sale mainly to chip-packaging customers in China, Taiwan and other parts of Asia such as Korea, or to distributors who sell to packagers. It also packages chips into LED components for sale to distributors and end-customers in selected markets (mainly for general lighting applications, including street lights and commercial, industrial and residential lighting).
Operating margin has fallen back further, from negative 87% last quarter to negative 296% (back below negative 228% a year ago). As well as the reduction in revenue, margins were impacted by an impairment charge on long-lived assets of $7.5m, and a charge to bad debt expense of $1.4m on accounts and notes receivable from the China SemiLEDs joint venture (formed in January 2010 in Foshan, Guangdong Province).
SemiLEDs says that Q4 results reflect the firm's reduction in the carrying amount of its investment in China SemiLEDs to zero, compared to the Q3 ending balance of $8.7m. The reduction mainly reflects recognition of the firm's proportionate share of an impairment charge on China SemiLEDs' long-lived assets related to the increased likelihood that China SemiLEDs' shareholders would fail to agree to and implement a restructuring plan for the joint venture.
On a non-GAAP basis, net loss was $16.6m, up from $13.2m a year ago and double last quarter's $8m. Net loss for full-year fiscal 2012 was $37.8m, up from fiscal 2011's $14.3m.
Cash used in operating activities was $5.2m (more than doubling from $2.5m last quarter, and up on $2m a year ago). During the quarter, cash and cash equivalents fell from $62.9m to $47.2m.
"The LED market is improving; China has started to release funding for new LED projects and our new products are gaining acceptance," says chairman & CEO Trung Doan. "While things are improving, we believe the best course of action is to remain focused on our operations in Taiwan," he adds. "We are focused on getting our products qualified for our customers and ramping up sales of our products, and we look forward to calendar year 2013 as a turning point of SemiLEDs."
