Taiwan's TSMC just released third quarter results for the the period ending September 30 show revenue reached NT$69.26 billion while net income and fully diluted earnings per share came to NT$24.49 billion and NT$0.99 per share, respectively.

On a sequential basis, third quarter results represent an 18.4% increase in revenue, and a 33.3% increase in both net income and fully diluted EPS.

Year-over-year comparison shows decreases in revenue, net income, and fully diluted EPS to be 0.7%, 12.3%, and 12.2%, respectively.

The 18.4% increase in third quarter revenue mainly resulted from a 19.8% increase in wafer shipments.

Gross margin for the third quarter jumped 4.4 percentage points to 44.1%, due to higher levels of capacity utilization and more favorable exchange rates.

Advanced process technologies (0.13-micron and below) accounted for 43% of wafer revenues, same as in the previous quarter.

Meanwhile, revenues from 90-nanometer process technology reached 10% of the total wafer sales. Overall utilization was 96%.

Operating margin improved from 30.4% in second quarter to 36% in third quarter, and net margin improved to 35.4% from 31.4% in the last quarter.

Operating expenses were NT$5.60 billion, representing 8.1% of revenue. The combined result from non-operating income and long-term investments was a loss of NT$510 million.

Income before tax increased 37.7% sequentially to NT$24.42 billion. The provision for tax expenses of NT$2.80 billion was completely offset by an investment tax credit of NT$2.87 billion. TSMC's 3Q05 net income was NT$24.49 billion with a net margin of 35.4%.