Amkor Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2009 Results

Amkor Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMKR), a leading provider of semiconductor assembly and test services, today reported its financial results for the quarter and year ended December 31, 2009.

Fourth quarter net sales of $668 million were up 8% sequentially from the third quarter of 2009 and up 22% from the fourth quarter of 2008. Gross margin improved to 26% for the fourth quarter, compared to 25% for the third quarter of 2009 and 18% for the fourth quarter of 2008. Fourth quarter net income was $88 million or $0.33 per diluted share, compared to $81 million or $0.31 per diluted share in the third quarter of 2009 and a net loss of $623 million, or $3.40 loss per share, in the fourth quarter of 2008. Net income for the third quarter of 2009 included income tax benefits of $34 million or $0.12 per diluted share, primarily from the release of a tax valuation allowance at a subsidiary in Korea. The net loss for the fourth quarter of 2008 included a $671 million goodwill impairment charge, or $3.67 per share.

Full year 2009 net sales were $2.2 billion, down 18% from $2.7 billion for 2008. Gross margin was 22% for 2009, compared to 21% for 2008. Net income for the full year 2009 was $156 million or $0.67 per diluted share compared to a net loss of $457 million for 2008 or $2.50 loss per share, which included the goodwill impairment charge noted above.

"Customer demand remained strong in the fourth quarter as we delivered our best quarterly results in 2009. Our net sales of $668 million were better than expected, representing an 8% improvement from the third quarter,” said Ken Joyce, Amkor’s president and chief executive officer. "Our disciplined spending and cost control efforts, together with strong operating leverage in the second half of the year, have driven solid profitability and free cash flow generation during the worst industry downturn in many years,” added Joyce.

"We began the year with an unprecedented drop in sales as the electronics industry significantly cut inventories in response to the global recession. The markets have rebounded more quickly than most people anticipated at the start of the year, and the current outlook is positive as we enter 2010. Looking ahead to the first quarter of 2010, we expect net sales to be down between 2% and 6% from a strong fourth quarter of 2009, with gross margin of 22% to 24%,” said Joyce.

"We are currently operating at or near capacity in many of our product lines,” noted Joyce. "In order to support improved customer demand, we expect to invest at higher levels in 2010 compared with 2009, with spending weighted more towards the first half of the year. Our overall capital intensity is expected to be around 14%.”

"Unit shipments of 2.4 billion during the fourth quarter were up 4% from the third quarter, principally driven by the strength of leadframe wire bond packaging services,” said Joanne Solomon, Amkor’s chief financial officer. "Revenue growth of 8% was more than the unit growth of 4% reflecting strong demand for flip chip and wire bond chip scale and ball grid array packaging services with higher average sales prices. We saw broad demand across our product lines during the fourth quarter, including our services for the communications and consumer end markets, with notable sequential growth in networking.”

"We generated $88 million in free cash flow in the full year 2009, our fourth consecutive year of positive free cash flow, despite paying $148 million to reduce our Korean severance obligations and to resolve a patent license dispute,” noted Solomon. "During the fourth quarter, we repurchased $23 million of our 7.125% senior notes due 2011 and $15 million of our 7.75% senior notes due 2013 and we ended the quarter with a cash balance of $395 million and total debt of $1.4 billion.”

"Capital additions for the fourth quarter of 2009 were $69 million and $198 million for the full year 2009 with full year capital intensity of 9%. We expect capital additions for the first quarter of 2010 to be approximately $100 to $125 million. Our planned capital additions are focused on expanding capacity in support of customer demand for a number of advanced packaging and test areas, including flip chip and wire bond chip scale packaging and wafer bumping,” said Solomon.

Selected operating data for the fourth quarter and full year of 2009 is included in a section before the financial tables.

Business Outlook

Based upon the latest available information, we have the following expectations for the first quarter of 2010:

• Net sales down 2% to 6% from the fourth quarter of 2009
• Gross margin between 22% and 24%
• Net income – in the range of $0.19 to $0.28 per diluted share

Conference Call Information

Amkor will conduct a conference call on February 10, 2010 at 5:00 p.m. eastern time. This call is being webcast and can be accessed at Amkor’s web site at www.amkor.com. You may also access the call by dialing 877-941-2332. A replay of the call will be made available at Amkor’s web site or by dialing 800-406-7325 (access passcode # 4200074). The webcast is also being distributed over Thomson Financial’s Investor Distribution Network to both institutional and individual investors. Individual investors can listen to the call through Thomson Financial individual investor center at www.companyboardroom.com or by visiting any of the investor sites in Thomson Financial’s Individual Investor Network. Institutional investors can access the call via Thomson Financial’s password-protected event management site, StreetEvents (www.streetevents.com).

About Amkor

Amkor is a leading provider of semiconductor assembly and test services to semiconductor companies and electronics OEMs. More information on Amkor is available from the company’s SEC filings and on Amkor’s website: www.amkor.com.

Forward-Looking Statement Disclaimer

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of federal securities laws. All statements other than statements of historical fact are considered forward-looking statements including, without limitation, the following: statements regarding the expected dollar amount, focus and timing of our capital additions and the expected level of capital intensity; and the statements made regarding our current outlook as we enter 2010 and our expected net sales, gross margin and net income. These forward-looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors that could affect future results and cause actual results and events to differ materially from historical and expected results and those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, the following:

• the highly unpredictable nature of the semiconductor industry;
• the effect of the global economy on credit markets, financial institutions, customers, suppliers and consumers;
• inability to achieve high capacity utilization rates;
• volatility of consumer demand for products incorporating our semiconductor packages;
• dependence on key customers;
• weakness in the forecasts of Amkor’s customers;
• customer modification of and follow through with respect to forecasts provided to Amkor;
• curtailment of outsourcing by our customers;
• our substantial indebtedness and restrictive covenants;
• failure to realize sufficient cash flow to fund capital additions;
• the effects of a recession in the U.S. and other economies worldwide;
• the highly unpredictable nature and costs of litigation and other legal activities and the risk of adverse results of such matters;
• worldwide economic effects of terrorist attacks, natural disasters and military conflict;
• our ability to control costs;
• competitive pricing and declines in average selling prices;
• timing and volume of orders relative to production capacity;
• fluctuations in manufacturing yields;
• competition;
• dependence on international operations and sales;
• dependence on raw material and equipment suppliers and changes in raw material and precious metal costs;
• exchange rate fluctuations;
• dependence on key personnel;
• difficulties in managing growth;
• enforcement of intellectual property rights;
• environmental and other governmental regulations; and
• technological challenges.

Other important risk factors that could affect the outcome of the events set forth in these statements and that could affect our operating results and financial condition are discussed in the company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2008 and in the company’s subsequent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission made prior to or after the date hereof. Amkor undertakes no obligation to review or update any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances occurring after the date of this press release.