Memory-IC backend specialist Powertech Technology (PTI) saw its net profits climb to a seven-year high of NT$5.85 billion (US$200.4 million) in 2017.

PTI posted consolidated revenues of NT$59.63 billion in 2017, up 23.4% on year and hitting an annual high, while gross margin slid 0.3pp to 21.3%. The company generated operating profits of NT$9.11 billion in 2017 with operating margin slipping 0.5pp on year to 15.3%.

PTI's net profits for 2017 represented a 21% on-year increase. EPS for the year came to NT$7.51, up from NT$6.20 in 2016.

PTI posted revenues of NT$16.72 billion in the fourth quarter of 2017, up 2.4% sequentially and hitting a record high for the third consecutive quarter. Gross margin for the quarter increased 0.4pp on quarter to 21.5%. The company generated operating profits of NT$2.59 billion in the fourth quarter with operating margin rising 0.7pp sequentially to 15.5%.

PTI reported net profits of NT$1.66 billion in the fourth quarter of 2017, up 2.1% on quarter and 15.2% from a year earlier. EPS reached NT$2.12, up from NT$2.08 in the third quarter and NT$1.84 in the fourth quarter of 2016.

PTI indicated it started recognizing revenues generated by Micron Akita, which it had acquired from Micron Technology, in August 2017. An additional NT$150 million was brought to PTI monthly.

Micron Akita was previously the US firm's assembly and test plant in Japan. PTI also took up Micron's stake in Tera Probe, and started recognizing part of the revenues from the Japan-based wafer testing company in June 2017.

Meanwhile, revenues generated by PTI's Xian plant in China have begun to grow driving further the Taiwan-based backend house's overall revenue growth in 2017.

Favorable market conditions made a positive contribution to PTI's performance in 2017. The DRAM market revenues surged 67% on year while the flash memory segment rose 51%, said PTI president JY Hung at a January 30 investors meeting.

Looking into 2018, PTI expects revenues to grow through the last quarter of the year thanks to continued brisk demand for memory chips, according to Hung. The company is optimistic about its performance in the first quarter of 2018, citing robust DRAM demand and stable prices of the memory, as well as rising NAND flash demand for SSDs.

PTI remains focused on high-end packaging technologies for logic ICs, such as FC, SiP/MCP, TSV and fan-out packaging. PTI also offers chip backend services for Bitcoin mining applications.

In addition, PTI disclosed plans to expand production capacity for NAND flash memory by more than 20% and to double its FC packaging production capacity in 2018. The company's fan-out packaging business, in which it had invested NT$3 billion, is also ready for volume production later this year.

PTI expects its 2018 capex to be lower than the NT$15 billion spent for 2017.