Telechips said on Wednesday it posted second-quarter revenue of 59.2 billion won and operating profit of 3.18 billion won. Revenue rose 33.6 percent from 44.3 billion won a year earlier. Operating profit swung to black from a year-ago loss of 3.55 billion won. The operating margin improved to 5.4 percent from minus 8.0 percent. The company has reported an operating profit for three straight quarters.

Revenue from SoC development service work, which has led the earnings improvement since the fourth quarter of last year, fell from the previous quarter. SoC refers to a system semiconductor that integrates multiple functions on a single chip. The gap was filled by sales of existing product lines, including IVI, an in-vehicle infotainment device that handles navigation and music playback. Growth momentum and profitability were maintained as sales of existing products increased.

Performance for the first half also improved. Cumulative revenue for January to June was 125.2 billion won, up 39.9 percent from 89.5 billion won a year earlier. Cumulative operating profit was 9.3 billion won, compared with an operating loss of 6.15 billion won a year earlier. That marks a 15.4 billion won improvement in profit and loss over one year. Compared with first-quarter revenue of 66.1 billion won and operating profit of 6.12 billion won, second-quarter revenue fell 10.5 percent and operating profit dropped 48.1 percent.

The improvement at the operating level did not carry through to the bottom line. Net loss in the second quarter was 4.1 billion won, swinging to a loss from a first-quarter net profit of 900 million won. The loss widened from a net loss of 3.2 billion won a year earlier. The cumulative net loss for the first half was 3.2 billion won, narrower than 6.7 billion won a year earlier. The figures are preliminary consolidated results and may differ from final numbers.

A Telechips official said, "If revenue from SoC development services reflected since the fourth quarter of last year provided the turning point for the earnings turnaround, in the second quarter of this year growth in existing product businesses such as IVI continued, and the earnings improvement is expanding into the core business." The official added, "It is meaningful in that we achieved an operating profit for three consecutive quarters on the back of strong sales of existing products, indicating that the profit structure across the business is stabilising."

The official added, "In the second half, we plan to push to expand global customers for existing products and broaden mass production for new projects, while strengthening synergy between SoC development services and the existing product business to continue sustainable growth and improved profitability."