Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMI) announced its consolidated results of operations for the three months ended December 31, 2006.

Sales increased 4% in the fourth quarter of 2006 to US$383.8 million from US$368.9 million in the third quarter. The company reported an increase in capacity to 182,250 8-inch equivalent wafers per month and a utilization rate of 86.6% in the fourth quarter of 2006. Gross margins were 6.6% in the fourth quarter of 2006 compared to 8.9% in the third quarter of 2006.

The company showed a net income of US$1.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2006, compared to a net loss ofUS$15.0 million in the fourth quarter of 2005 and a net loss ofUS$35.1 million in the third quarter of 2006.

"SMIC posted record revenues of US$1.46 billion dollars in 2006, which represented a 25% increase year over year," said Dr. Richard Chang, Chief Executive Officer of SMIC. "Gross profit grew by 68% year over year to US$150.7 million dollars. We were able to reduce our net loss by 64% year over year and managed to increase EBITDA by 25% year over year to US$911.1 million dollars.

There was particular strength in the PC related ICs, DTV, MP3/4, and Bluetooth applications. Also, the company says it had eight new Mainland China customer wins during the fourth quarter.

For the first quarter of 2007, the company is expecting more than 17% of its total wafer revenue to come from 90nm sales.