2021 EPS grew 89% YoY to NT$4.57; ROE 21.6%

Company well-positioned to capture industry growth driven by mega-trends

Fourth Quarter 2021 Overview¹:

• Revenue: NT$59.10 billion (US$2.14 billion)
• Gross margin: 39.1%; Operating margin: 29.8%
• Revenue from 22/28nm: 20%
• Capacity utilization rate: 100%+
• Net income attributable to shareholders of the parent: NT$15.95 billion (US$576 million)
• Earnings per share: NT$1.30; earnings per ADS: US$0.235

TAIPEI, Taiwan — (BUSINESS WIRE) — January 25, 2022 — United Microelectronics Corporation (NYSE: UMC; TWSE: 2303) (“UMC” or “The Company”), a leading global semiconductor foundry, today announced its consolidated operating results for the fourth quarter of 2021.

Fourth quarter consolidated revenue was NT$59.10 billion, increasing 5.7% QoQ from NT$55.91 billion in 3Q21. Compared to a year ago, 4Q21 revenue grew 30.5% YoY from NT$45.30 billion in 4Q20. Consolidated gross margin for 4Q21 was 39.1%. Net income attributable to the shareholders of the parent was NT$15.95 billion, with earnings per ordinary share of NT$1.30.

Jason Wang, UMC co-president, said, “In the fourth quarter, strong demand continued to drive full loading across our fabs, while overall wafer shipments grew 1.7% QoQ to 2.55 million 8-inch equivalents. For the full year, revenue in 2021 rose by more than 20% YoY and operating income reached a record high, driven by a surge in our 28nm business. The 75% YoY revenue increase from 28nm technologies strengthened our overall wafer ASP and reflected the robust chip demand related to 5G, AIoT, and automotive mega-trends. It also substantially contributed to the improvement in the company’s financial structure. Our healthy 28nm product pipeline will further diversify our portfolio and customer base, and enable UMC to capture additional market share.”

Co-president Wang said, “Looking ahead into Q1 2022, we anticipate that demand across all nodes in UMC’s addressable markets will continue to outpace supply. Our growth in the long term is supported by industry megatrends, which will be catapulted by structural changes occurring in the industry. We will continue to deepen collaboration with customers with our differentiated specialty technologies, manufacturing excellence, and capacity expansions closely linked to the demands of our partners. At the same time, we will keep pushing for cost reduction and meticulously manage our CapEx in order to deliver sustainable and healthy returns for our shareholders.”

Co-president Wang added, “We were thrilled to receive a number of recognitions recently for our relentless focus on sustainability. Following our net-zero pledge in June, UMC was ranked no.1 among all semiconductor constituents listed on the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices (DJSI), which has included the company on its World Index for 14 straight years. We were also awarded Taiwan Intellectual Property Management System (TIPS) certification, Taiwan’s official IP management benchmark for enterprises, underscoring our commitment to strengthen overall corporate governance. Sustainability is at the core of everything we do, and we will continue prioritizing resources to drive critical initiatives in our ESG roadmap.”

Summary of Operating Results