DB HiTek Co., a South Korean specialty chip foundry, forecasts solid business performance in the rest of this year after reporting a 10% gain in operating profit in the second quarter on robust demand for power semiconductors.
The company reported in its regulatory filing on Monday that its consolidated operating profit hit 73.9 billion won ($53.4 million) for the quarter ended June, up 9.3% from a year ago.
Sales climbed 13.1% to 337.4 billion won over the same period.
The company’s operating margin came in at 21.9%, slightly down from 22.6% a year earlier.
DB HiTek attributed the results to strong demand for power semiconductors, particularly from Chinese fabless chip companies. It cited a recovery in high-voltage power integrated circuit orders across communications, automotive and information technology (IT) applications.
The company expects foundry demand to stay strong in the second half of this year, driven by rising orders from China as Beijing ramps up efforts to bolster its domestic semiconductor industry amid ongoing trade tensions with the US.
The company spokesperson said fab utilization rebounded to the mid- to high-90% range in the first half and is likely to remain at similar levels through year-end, despite lingering uncertainty in the global chip market.
“We will continue to enhance our technological edge in core power semiconductors while pursuing new business opportunities to support sustainable growth,” the official said.
DB HiTek plans to accelerate the development of new technologies, including silicon capacitors and Gallium Nitride (GaN) power semiconductors, a wide-bandgap semiconductor material that offers superior performance compared to traditional silicon-based semiconductors in power electronics applications.
Founded in 2001, the company specializes in legacy chip fabrication using 200-millimeter wafers.
By Jeong-Soo Hwang
hjs@hankyung.com
Sookyung Seo edited this article.
