HSINCHU, Aug. 10, 2015 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- 

2Q15 Highlights (as compared to 1Q15):

• Net Revenue Was US$164.2 Million Compared to US$169.0 Million
• Gross Profit Was US$36.8 Million Compared to US$39.3 Million
• Gross Margin Was 22.4% Compared to 23.3%
• Operating Profit Was US$24.2 Million Compared to US$28.1 Million
• Net Earnings of US$0.08 Per Basic Common Share and US$0.08 Per Diluted Common Share Compared to US$0.43 Per Basic Common Share and US$0.42 Per Diluted Common Share
• Net Earnings Were Adversely Impacted By a US$7.5 Million Dividend Distribution Withholding Tax and US$1.7 Million of Foreign Exchange Loss, or Approximately of US$0.32 Per Basic Common Share and US$0.32 Per Diluted Common Share In Aggregate.
• Generated US$5.4 Million of Free Cash Flow after US$22.8 Million of CapEx
• Paid US$46.8 Million in Cash in Relation to ThaiLin Merger
• Declared US$0.14 Per Share Dividend Payable on October 30, 2015
• Accelerated Start of US$25.0 Million Repurchase Program
• Board of ChipMOS Taiwan Authorized Separate 20 Million Share Repurchase Program
• Retained Balance of Cash and Cash Equivalents at US$475.1 Million compared to US$524.4 Million

ChipMOS TECHNOLOGIES (Bermuda) LTD. ("ChipMOS" or the "Company") (Nasdaq: IMOS), an industry leading provider of outsourced semiconductor assembly and test services ("OSAT"), today reported unaudited consolidated financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2015. All U.S. dollar figures in this release are based on the exchange rate of NT$30.88 against US$1.00 as of June 30, 2015.

Net revenue for the second quarter of 2015 was NT$5,069.1 million or US$164.2 million, a decrease of 2.9% from NT$5,218.1 million or US$169.0 million in the first quarter of 2015 and a decrease of 6.4% from NT$5,413.4 million or US$175.3 million for the same period in 2014. This is in-line with the Company's guidance, which called for revenue to be flat to down in the low single digits as compared to the first quarter of 2015.

Net income for the second quarter of 2015 was NT$72.3 million or US$2.4 million, and NT$2.54 or US$0.08 per basic common share and NT$2.49 or US$0.08 per diluted common share, as compared to net income for the first quarter of 2015 of NT$377.6 million or US$12.2 million, and NT$13.23 or US$0.43 per basic common share and NT$12.96 or US$0.42 per diluted common share, and compared to net income in the second quarter of 2014 of NT$169.8 million or US$5.5 million, and NT$5.70 or US$0.18 per basic common share and NT$5.56 or US$0.18 per diluted common share.  Net earnings were adversely impacted by a US$7.5 million dividend distribution withholding tax and US$1.7 million of foreign exchange loss, or approximately of US$0.32 per basic common share and US$0.32 per diluted common share in aggregate.

The unaudited consolidated financial results of ChipMOS for the second quarter ended June 30, 2015 included the financial results of ChipMOS TECHNOLOGIES INC. ("ChipMOS Taiwan"), ChipMOS U.S.A., Inc., ThaiLin Semiconductor Corp. ("ThaiLin") and MODERN MIND TECHNOLOGY LIMITED and its wholly-owned subsidiary ChipMOS TECHNOLOGIES (Shanghai) LTD.

S.J. Cheng, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of ChipMOS, said, "We achieved our 2Q15 revenue and gross margin targets, as we continue to benefit from our leadership in the LCD driver business, led by growth opportunities in small panel drivers. This gives us a competitive advantage and helped buffer softness in our DRAM and bumping business in the quarter. We also benefitted from growth in our non-driver IC business, including flash and wafer level chip scale package (WLCSP) businesses, which increased 7.7% and 33.8%, respectively, compared to 1Q15. As we look forward, we remain confident in our business over the long-term, despite any near-term macro weakness. We continue to benefit from strong, mutually beneficial, strategic customer relationships, and our leadership in the global LCD driver business and growth opportunities in our non-driver IC businesses."

"We continue to make substantial progress on the streamlining of our corporate structure. The latest actions included the completion of the merger of ChipMOS Taiwan, our 58% owned subsidiary, and ThaiLin on June 17, 2015. Subsequently, on July 14, 2015, our Board of Directors announced the formation of a Special Committee to review and evaluate the feasibility of a merger of the Company into ChipMOS Taiwan and to negotiate the contemplated action with ChipMOS Taiwan. We have already completed a significant amount of work in prior quarters around a potential top level compression of our structure. We are fully committed to such a top level compression, but the Board must secure third party valuations and related counsel.  Other notable actions we have taken recently include our declaration of a cash dividend of US$0.14 per share payable on October 30, 2015 to all common shareholders of record at the close of business on October 16, 2015 and our Board authorized a US$25.0 million share repurchase program. The share repurchase has been accelerated and is expected to now commence five business days from the date on which ChipMOS and the broker entered into the plan, which is anticipated to be one business day after this release of our 2Q15 results to allow us to better take advantage of what see as an undervaluation of our Company in the market. In addition, the Board of Directors of ChipMOS Taiwan authorized a separate share repurchase program, under which 20 million shares are authorized to be repurchased on the Taiwan Stock Exchange, which would result in the ownership of ChipMOS in ChipMOS Taiwan increasing to approximately 58.2% from the current 58.0%. The repurchase impact will be slightly offset by a 15.7 million restricted share grant under the Company's incentive program to employees of ChipMOS Taiwan by August 31. And while our continued concrete results and actions have not yet been recognized in a higher valuation of the Company, we remain focused and will continue to strive to deliver higher than industry average revenue and net income growth, which will ultimately benefit both the Company and all shareholders."