IC packaging specialist Siliconware Precision Industries (SPIL) saw its 2016 revenues climb to a record NT$85.11 billion (US$2.66 billion).

SPIL reported consolidated revenues of NT$7.47 billion for December 2016, up 2.7% sequentially and 7.7% on year. Revenues came to NT$22.18 billion for the fourth quarter of 2016, rising about 1% on quarter and hitting a record high for the second consecutive quarter.

SPIL posted revenues of NT$21.96 billion in the third quarter of 2016. Net profits for the quarter slid 4.2% sequentially, however, due to appreciation of the NT dollar.

SPIL generated revenues of NT$62.93 billion in the first three quarters of 2016, up 1.4% from a year earlier, while gross margin fell 3.6pp on year to 22.4%. Net profits for the 9-month period came to NT$7.1 billion, down 20.8% from the same period in 2015, with EPS reaching NT$2.28 compared with NT$2.88 a year ago.

In other news, SPIL disclosed recently plans to budget NT$15.5 billion in capex for 2017, down from the NT$17.9 billion targeted for 2016.

Market watchers expect SPIL to put its focus for 2017 on fan-out wafer packaging and other high-end packaging technologies. A portion of SPIL's 2017 capex will also be used for R&D of 3D IC technologies, according to the watchers.