United Microelectronics (UMC) expects its sales growth this year to be on par with the global foundry industry average.

UMC is on track to meet its sales guidance for the second quarter, said company CFO Chi Tung Liu at a recent shareholders meeting. The pure-play foundry expects to post a 6-7% sequential increase in wafer shipments with ASPs rising by up to 3%.

UMC may have already hit bottom for 2019 in the first quarter, Liu indicated. Sales have started picking up and will follow seasonal patterns in the third quarter, Wang added.

UMC will be striving to generate growth on par with the industry average and also maintain its global market share this year, Liu noted.

UMC saw its May revenues climb to a seven-month high of NT$12.24 billion (US$389 million). The firm's cumulative 2019 revenues through May fell 9.7% on year to NT$56.91 billion.

UMC with its complete mature and special-purpose process platforms is gearing up to satisfy growing chip demand for IoT, 5G and automotive electronics device applications, according to company co-president Jason Wang. Wang also reiterated UMC's capex target for 2019 at US$1 billion compared with US$650 million allocated last year.

In addition, UMC's China-based subsidiary Hejian Technology (Suzhou) has submitted an application to launch its IPO on the Shanghai Stock Exchange. Hejian is seeking to list on the Science and Technology Innovation board of the SSE, and is still waiting for approval, Wang said.

UMC's shareholders have approved the distribution of a NT$0.58 cash dividend per share for 2018, when the company reported net profits of NT$7.07 billion on consolidated revenues of NT$151.25 billion. EPS for the year was NT$0.58.