HSINCHU, March 12, 2015 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ --

Full Year 2014 Highlights (as compared to the Full Year 2013):

• Net Revenue Increased 13.7% to US$696.4 Million from US$612.7 Million
• Gross Profit Increased to US$165.3 Million from US$108.8 Million
• Gross Margin Improved to 23.7% from 17.8%
• Operating Profit Increased to US$117.9 Million from US$76.2 Million
• Net Earnings of US$1.78 Per Basic Common Share and US$1.74 Per Diluted Common Share Compared to US$1.44 Per Basic Common Share and US$1.40 Per Diluted Common Share
• Generated US$17.8 Million of Free Cash Flow after US$112.9 Million of CapEx
• Reduced Net Debt by US$51.0 Million
• Repurchased 1.1 million shares
• Paid Dividend of US$0.14 Per Share
• Retained Balance of Cash and Cash Equivalents at US$483.1 Million compared to US$423.2 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 fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2014. All U.S. dollar figures in this release are based on the exchange rate of NT$31.60 against US$1.00 as of December 31, 2014.

Net revenue for the fourth quarter of 2014 was NT$5,796.4 million or US$183.4 million, a decrease of 0.2% from NT$5,806.3 million or US$183.7 million in the third quarter of 2014 and an increase of 18.5% from NT$4,890.1 million or US$154.7 million for the same period in 2013.  This is at the high-end of the Company's guidance, which called for revenue to be flat to down in the low single digits, as compared to the third quarter of 2014.

Net income for the fourth quarter of 2014 was NT$589.1 million or US$18.7 million, and NT$20.31 or US$0.64 per basic common share and NT$19.88 or US$0.63 per diluted common share, as compared to net income for the third quarter of 2014 of NT$573.2 million or US$18.1 million, and NT$19.37 or US$0.61 per basic common share and NT$18.92 or US$0.60 per diluted common share, and compared to net income in the fourth quarter of 2013 of NT$170.8 million or US$5.4 million, and NT$5.77 or US$0.18 per basic common share and NT$5.63 or US$0.18 per diluted common share.

Net revenue for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2014 was NT$22,005.1 million or US$696.4 million, an increase of 13.7% from NT$19,361.9 million or US$612.7 million for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2013.  Net income for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2014 was NT$1,663.2 million or US$52.6 million, and NT$56.33 or US$1.78 per basic and NT$54.99 or US$1.74 per diluted common share, compared to net income for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2013 was NT$1,335.3 million or US$42.2 million, and NT$45.55 or US$1.44 per basic and NT$44.27 or US$1.40 per diluted common share.

The unaudited consolidated financial results of ChipMOS for the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2014 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, "2014 was a strong year for ChipMOS, as we outgrew the broader semiconductor industry, achieved impressive growth in profitability and free cash flow, and executed the long-term initiatives designed to ensure the Company's continued success.  Our core strategy of focusing on higher margin segments and serving customers we can support and grow with continues to pay off for the Company.  We are pleased with our market position and the profile of our customer base, which is both diverse and boasts numerous industry leaders.  This has positioned ChipMOS to further benefit from a favorable revenue mix, which we believe is sustainable over the coming quarters.  We remain very positive about opportunities in our higher margin LCD driver and memory assembly and test businesses, and have added confidence based on stability in the other segments we serve.  As previously discussed, we had an opportunity to increase our CapEx investments in the fourth quarter, based on customer demand levels and in order to put the appropriate resources in place needed for 2015.  We invested a majority of our CapEx in our LCD driver business.  This directly reflects our confidence in the business and in our customers, which led to an 89% utilization level in the LCD segment in the fourth quarter, even after we added on the additional capacity.  We are well positioned to take advantage of further growth, and expect to also benefit from a stable pricing market environment and further industry capacity rationalization.  From a structural standpoint, we achieved several major milestones in 2014, including the listing of our subsidiary, ChipMOS Taiwan, on the Taiwan Stock Exchange ("TWSE") on April 11, 2014.  ChipMOS Taiwan subsequently announced a proposal to merge with ThaiLin on November 12, 2014.  The required greater than 50% of shareholders of both ChipMOS Taiwan and ThaiLin voted in person or by proxy to approve the proposed merger of the two ChipMOS' subsidiaries on December 30, 2014.  We are pleased with our continued progress and expect to build on our business momentum in 2015 to the benefit of the Company, and our shareholders, as we drive further improvements in our business performance and additional streamlining of our organizational structure."

S.K. Chen, Chief Financial Officer of ChipMOS, said, "The fourth quarter came in at the high end of expectations, with revenue essentially flat with the prior quarter, and gross margin at 25.2%.  Fourth quarter net income improved to US$0.64 per basic common share, compared to US$0.18 per basic common share in the year ago period.  Our overall utilization level held at 81% in the fourth quarter compared to the third quarter, even after we invested US$50.1 million in CapEx in the quarter. This reflects the expected growth in our LCD driver business and stability in our DRAM business.  We ended 2014 with US$483.1 million in cash and cash equivalents, after generating US$177.2 million in cash from operations.  As a result, we improved our net debt to equity ratio to -50.8% as of December 31, 2014 compared to -42.9% at the end of 2013, with a net cash balance of US$235.2 million as of December 31 , 2014.  This is after we reduced our net debt by another US$51.0 million during 2014, after we paid a dividend of US$0.14 per share, after CapEx of US$112.9 million , and after we repurchased a total of 1.1 million shares in 2014, at a cost of US$24.1 million , with 1.0 million shares repurchased under an agreement from Siliconware Precision Industries Co., Ltd. and 73.0 thousand shares bought under our repurchase program.  We used the balance of our US$15.0 million share repurchase program in January 2015 when we bought an additional 564.8 thousand shares on the open market."