IEMC optimistic about specialty gases spin-up time
By Lisa Wang / Staff Reporter
Electronic specialty gas supplier Ion Electronic Materials Co (IEMC, 兆捷) yesterday said its self-developed, high-margin products are expected to account for 60 percent of revenue within three years.
Over the same period, the company’s annual revenue is forecast to more than double to about NT$1.6 billion (US$48.7 million) from an estimated NT$700 million this year, IEMC chairman Charles Kau (高啟全) told a media briefing in Taipei.
Gross margin is projected to rise to 50 percent from 14 percent last year, Kau said.
From left, Ion Electronic Materials Co chairman Charles Kau, president James Ku and chief financial officer Tsai Shu-ting attend a news conference in Taipei yesterday.
Photo: Chang Hui-wen, Taipei Times
Proprietary products accounted for 30 percent of the company’s revenue last quarter, and third-party gas distribution accounted for 70 percent, the company said.
Specialty gas sales surged 30 percent annually to NT$534 million in the first three quarters, benefiting from increasing demand for local supply chains as geopolitical tensions and the Russian invasion of Ukraine persist, company data showed.
Self-developed gases yield a substantially higher gross margin of 50 percent, compared with 10 percent generated by distributed products, the company said.
The company reported a net loss of NT$820,000 last quarter.
“Our goal is to reach the break-even point by the end of this year and to turn a profit next year,” Kau said.
The company is confident that it would reach profitability well ahead of its peers, beating the standard 15-to-17-year timeline typical for specialty gas suppliers, he said.
Set up in 2016, IEMC supplies cleaning and lithography gases primarily used in extreme ultraviolet lithography tools, and dopant gases to the nation’s major foundry companies and memorychip makers.
With several specialty gases cleared through customer verification, the company is poised for a “take-off year” next year, Kau said.
To meet surging customer demand and diversify product portfolios, IEMC plans to break ground on a new facility in Kaohsiung’s Ciaotou District (橋頭) next year, as its plant in Miaoli County’s Tongluo Science Park (銅鑼科學園區) nears maximum capacity.
The new factory would produce two to three new specialty gases, including its liquid precursors used in the semiconductor manufacturing process. The first specialty gas should be ready for production in 2028, it said.
IEMC expects revenue to expand to NT$10 billion after the new factory begins volume production and reaches full capacity, company president James Ku (顧大成) said.
IEMC is scheduled to debut on the Taiwan Stock Exchange next month, with the price tentatively set at NT$115 per share.
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