Fab equipment maker Semes said on Thursday that it recorded 2.88 trillion won in revenue and a net income of 185.7 billion won for the entire year of 2022.
Revenue and net income dropped 7.6% and 29.7%, respectively, from 2021.
The decline is significant as Semes, a subsidiary of Samsung which owns 91.5% of shares, saw high growth from 2019 to 2021 __ recording 3 trillion won in revenue for the latter year.
As of the third quarter of last year, Samsung had accounted for 76% of Semes’ revenue.
The fab equipment maker provides equipment for etching, photomask, and cleaning used in wafer fabrication.
Semes’ main products are equipment for etching, which accounts for 30% of its total revenue.
The company’s record revenue in 2021 stems from Samsung’s big spending on expanding its chip production capacity.
In 2019, Samsung spent 22.6 trillion won on its chip facilities; the following year this increased to 32.9 trillion won; and in 2021 it increased to 43.6 trillion won.
In 2022, despite the economic downturn, the tech giant still spent 47.9 trillion won on its chip facilities.
Semes’ profit drop in 2022 likely stems from the earnings from its sales to Samsung being reflected around 6 months later than Samsung’s.
Also, the tech giant is facing delays in the construction of its new P3 fab in South Korea, which Semes is the main supplier of equipment for.
The fab equipment maker is likely to perform strongly during the first half of 2023.