TSE's Performance Expectations Rise This Year with 'Non-Memory Socket'

[Asia Economy Reporter Jang Hyowon] TSIG is expected to achieve significant performance improvement this year compared to last year.

According to the Financial Supervisory Service's electronic disclosure on the 21st, TSIG recorded sales of 62.4 billion KRW and operating profit of 100 million KRW in the fourth quarter of last year. This represents a decrease of 3% and 99%, respectively, compared to the same period last year.

However, performance improvement is expected this year. Shinhan Financial Investment forecasted that TSIG's consolidated sales and operating profit will reach 360.7 billion KRW and 54.9 billion KRW, respectively, this year. Especially, growth is expected to start from the first quarter. The expansion of sales of high-profit new products such as sockets for non-memory and related consumables like probe cards and interface boards is seen as positive.

Oh Kangho, Senior Researcher at Shinhan Financial Investment, explained, "Socket sales in the first quarter are expected to be 9.5 billion KRW, a 90% increase compared to the same period last year," adding, "The subsidiary can also achieve a performance rebound due to expanded facility investment and yield improvement by domestic and overseas clients."

Significant growth is especially expected in the non-memory socket 'Eltune.' Shinhan Financial Investment predicted that socket sales will reach 59.2 billion KRW this year, a 141% increase compared to the previous year. Non-memory sockets are characterized by small-volume, multi-product production and high profitability due to increasing global demand.

He said, "This year is expected to be a year of full-scale performance growth," explaining, "Because additional client expansion and an increase in mounted applications are anticipated." He added, "Currently, the production capacity for socket sales is estimated at an annual scale of 60 billion KRW, and considering product demand due to client expansion, additional facility expansion is also necessary."