STATS ChipPAC Provides Updated Outlook for Third Quarter 2012


SINGAPORE--19 SEPTEMBER 2012, UNITED STATES--(Marketwire - Sep 19, 2012) - STATS ChipPAC Ltd. (SGX-ST: STATSChP) ("STATS ChipPAC" or the "Company"), a leading semiconductor test and advanced packaging service provider, today provided an update on its outlook for the third quarter 2012.

In its third quarter 2012 outlook published in the Company's second quarter 2012 results release dated 26 July 2012, the Company had expected net revenues to be flat compared to prior quarter, with adjusted EBITDA1 in the range of 21% to 23% of revenue, and had expected capital expenditure2 in the third quarter of 2012 to be approximately $170 million to $190 million.

STATS ChipPAC now expects that its net revenues in the third quarter 2012 to be 3% to 5% decrease from prior quarter due to weakness in the PC end market and delay in supply of advanced silicon node wafers for high end smartphones. STATS ChipPAC expects to maintain adjusted EBITDA1 in the range of 21% to 23% of revenue and expects lower capital expenditure2 in the range of $160 million to $170 million in the third quarter of 2012. 

The outlook is subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those disclosed in the outlook statements. These statements are based on our management's beliefs and assumptions, which involve judgments about future trends, events and conditions, all of which are subject to change and many of which are beyond our control. Please refer to our Financial Statements for the three and six months ended 24 June 2012 filed with the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading Limited ("SGX-ST") for the major assumptions made in preparing our outlook, including our updated outlook, for the third quarter 2012. Investors should consider these assumptions and make their own assessment of the future performance of STATS ChipPAC and note that there may not be a direct correlation between the net income of the Company with adjusted EBITDA as a percentage of revenue.

Forward-looking Statements
Certain statements in this release are forward-looking statements, including our updated outlook for the third quarter 2012, that involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those described in this release. Factors that could cause actual results to differ include, but are not limited to, the timing and impact of the expected closure of the Thailand Plant as well as the estimated associated cost for the closure; the amount of the property damage and business interruption insurance claim due to flooding of the Thailand Plant; the ability to shift production to other manufacturing locations, shortages in supply of key components and disruption in supply chain; general business and economic conditions and the state of the semiconductor industry; prevailing market conditions; demand for end-use applications products such as communications equipment, consumer and multi-applications and personal computers; decisions by customers to discontinue outsourcing of test and packaging services; level of competition; our reliance on a small group of principal customers; our continued success in technological innovations; pricing pressures, including declines in average selling prices; intellectual property rights disputes and litigation; our ability to control operating expenses; our substantial level of indebtedness and access to credit markets; potential impairment charges; availability of financing; changes in our product mix; our capacity utilisation; delays in acquiring or installing new equipment; limitations imposed by our financing arrangements which may limit our ability to maintain and grow our business; returns from research and development investments; changes in customer order patterns; customer credit risks; disruption of our operations; loss of key management or other personnel; defects or malfunctions in our testing equipment or packages; rescheduling or cancelling of customer orders; adverse tax and other financial consequences if the taxing authorities do not agree with our interpretation of the applicable tax laws; classification of our Company as a passive foreign investment company; our ability to develop and protect our intellectual property; changes in environmental laws and regulations; exchange rate fluctuations; regulatory approvals for further investments in our subsidiaries; majority ownership by Temasek Holdings (Private) Limited ("Temasek") that may result in conflicting interests with Temasek and our affiliates; unsuccessful acquisitions and investments in other companies and businesses; labour union problems in South Korea; uncertainties of conducting business in China and changes in laws, currency policy and political instability in other countries in Asia; natural calamities and disasters, including outbreaks of epidemics and communicable diseases; the continued trading and listing of our ordinary shares on the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading Limited ("SGX-ST"). You should not unduly rely on such statements. We do not intend, and do not assume any obligation, to update any forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances.

About STATS ChipPAC Ltd.
STATS ChipPAC Ltd. is a leading service provider of semiconductor packaging design, assembly, test and distribution solutions in diverse end market applications including communications, digital consumer and computing. With global headquarters in Singapore, STATS ChipPAC has design, research and development, manufacturing or customer support offices in 10 different countries. STATS ChipPAC is listed on the SGX-ST. Further information is available at www.statschippac.com. Information contained in this website does not constitute a part of this release.

1 Adjusted EBITDA is not required by, or presented in accordance with, Singapore Financial Reporting Standards ("FRS"). We define adjusted EBITDA as net income attributable to STATS ChipPAC Ltd. plus income tax expense, interest expense, net, depreciation and amortisation, restructuring charges, share-based compensation, goodwill and equipment impairment, tender offer expenses and write-off of debt issuance cost. We present adjusted EBITDA as a supplemental measure of our performance. Management believes the non-FRS financial measure is useful to investors in enabling them to perform additional analysis.

2 Capital expenditure refers to acquisitions of production equipment, asset upgrades and infrastructure investments.

Contact Information:

Investor Relations Contact:
Tham Kah Locke
Vice President of Corporate Finance
Tel: (65) 6824 7788
Fax: (65) 6720 7826
email:

Media Contact:
Lisa Lavin
Deputy Director of Marketing Communications
Tel: (208) 867 9859
email: