IC packager Siliconware Precision Industries (SPIL) has reported net profits of NT$996 million (US$33.1 million) for the first quarter of 2017, down 64.8% sequentially and 37.9% on year. EPS for the quarter came to NT$0.32.

During the first quarter, SPIL suffered non-operating losses of NT$478 million including foreign exchange losses of NT$310 million.

SPIL posted consolidated revenues of NT$19.55 billion for the first quarter of 2017, down 11.8% on quarter but up 1.3% from a year ago. The company's gross margin fell to 19.2% in the first quarter from 23.57% in the prior quarter and 20.57% in the same quarter of 2016.

Bumping and flip-chip packaging accounted for 42% of SPIL's total revenues in the first quarter, followed by substrate-based packaging with 28%, leadframe-based packaging with 17% and testing with 13%.

Stable growth in demand for PCs and memory will buoy SPIL's sales performance in the second quarter, according to market watchers. Nevertheless, demand for high-end smartphone chips from China will determine how much revenue growth SPIL will manage to post in the second quarter.