[Click eStock] "Tesna, 2Q Slows Due to Texas Cold Wave... Camera Sensor-Centered Rebound Expected"

From Mid-2nd Quarter, Cold Wave Impact Eases...Expectations for Performance Rebound

[Asia Economy Reporter Minwoo Lee] Tesna, a semiconductor back-end testing specialist, is expected to post somewhat sluggish results through the second quarter of this year due to the suspension of operations at Samsung Electronics' Austin plant caused by the cold wave in Texas. It is forecasted that performance will rebound from April, when the impact of the cold wave was greatest, mainly driven by camera image sensors.

On the 9th, Hana Financial Investment projected that Tesna would record sales of 40 billion KRW and operating profit of 8 billion KRW in the second quarter of this year. This shows a slight slowdown compared to the first quarter (sales of 44 billion KRW, operating profit of 9.9 billion KRW), which saw increases of 38% in sales and 25% in operating profit year-over-year.

This is attributed to the impact of the February cold wave in Texas. Tesna operates a high value-added testing business in semiconductor back-end processes. Testing is divided into wafer-level testing and package-level testing. Most of Tesna's sales come from wafer-level testing, but the Texas cold wave disrupted wafer shipments from its customers. Kim Kyung-min, a researcher at Hana Financial Investment, explained, "The cold wave in Texas in February last year affected second-quarter results rather than first-quarter results based on wafer shipments," adding, "The period when the Texas cold wave had the greatest impact is estimated to have lasted until April."

From mid-second quarter, the outlook is for a shift in momentum centered on camera image sensor testing. Researcher Kim said, "Shipments of camera image sensors to China were steady, and shipments targeting domestic premium products were also relatively robust," adding, "As the number of camera image sensors per smartphone increases, the structurally growing demand environment will drive Tesna's performance growth." He further noted, "Structural performance growth is possible in camera image sensor testing, and related sales have started to exceed 50%, making it an important factor in overall company performance."