Silicon Motion Technology widens its 4th-quarter loss, revenue plunges 30 percent

Silicon Motion widens loss in 4Q

SEATTLE — Taiwan-based semiconductor maker Silicon Motion Technology Corp. said Monday it widened its loss in the fourth quarter as revenue plunged.

The company, which designs microchip components for flash memory cards and other devices, also said it may have to revise financial statements for 2009.

Investors sent shares down 28 cents, or 8.8 percent, to $2.92 in after-hours trading. Earlier, the stock gained 4 cents to close at $3.20.

Silicon Motion said it lost $17.3 million, or 62 cents per U.S.-traded share, in the three months that ended Dec. 31. A year ago, the company’s loss totaled $8.2 million, or 30 cents per share.

Excluding acquisition-related charges and other special items, Silicon Motion said it lost 28 cents per share. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters predicted a much smaller loss of 2 cents per share in the quarter.

Revenue sank 30 percent to $22.8 million from $32.3 million in the same period last year, lower than Wall Street’s forecast of $24.8 million.

For all of 2009, Silicon Motion posted a loss of $29.2 million. In 2008, net income totaled $9.3 million.

Annual revenue sank 50 percent to $87.8 million.

For the current first quarter, the company said revenue could be 5 percent lower to 5 percent higher than in the fourth quarter, or $21.7 million to $23.9 million. Analysts are looking for $22.4 million in revenue.

Silicon Motion, which is based in Taipei, said it may write down the value of goodwill and intangible assets related to its 2007 acquisition of FCI, another chipmaker. The company said it may have to revise its 2009 financial statements.