Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, said on Tuesday that a board meeting approved distribution of about NT$1.87 million (US$61,921) in performance-based bonuses to the company’s employees on average, in recognition of their hard work which boosted the company’s net profit to a new high in 2022.

In a statement, TSMC said the board meeting approved distribution of NT$121.44 billion in total business performance bonuses to employees in 2023. Based on the 65,000 workers in Taiwan as of the end of 2022, each employee is expected to receive about NT$1.87 million on average.

In 2022, TSMC posted a record NT$1.01 trillion in net profit, up 70.4 percent from a year earlier, with earnings per share at NT$39.2, compared with NT$23.01 a year earlier. It was the first time the chipmaker raked in net income in excess of NT$1 trillion a year.

TSMC also saw its consolidated sales hit a new high of NT$2.26 trillion, up 42.6 percent from a year earlier on the back of strong demand for its high-end processes.

According to TSMC, the company has already issued NT$60.72 billion in bonuses out of the planned NT$121.44 billion, with the remaining NT$60.72 billion to be distributed in July.

The board meeting also approved a proposal to assign up to US$3.5 billion to raise its investment in the wholly owned subsidiary TSMC Arizona, which is in charge of the chipmaker’s massive investment plan in the U.S. state of Arizona.

In early December 2022, when the chipmaker held a ceremony to mark the beginning of equipment installation at TSMC’s first fab in Phoenix, Arizona, TSMC announced work had begun to build a second wafer plant using the 3 nanometer process, the latest technology for which the company has launched mass production.

Construction of the first fab using the 4nm process in Arizona is underway with commercial production set to begin in 2024, while the second fab is scheduled to mass produce chips in 2026.

The total investment in the two fabs will hit US$40 billion and be one of the largest foreign investment projects in U.S. history.

The December ceremony was attended by U.S. President Joe Biden and many U.S. political heavyweights.

TSMC’s Tuesday board meeting gave a green light to company capital appropriations of about US$6.96 billion to be used in the installation and upgrading of advanced technology capacity, installation of specialty technology capacity, fab construction and installation of fab facility systems.

According to TSMC, specialty processes include microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), embedded flash (eFlash), and CMOS (complementary metal oxide semiconductor) image sensors and CIS.

In addition, the board meeting also approved a plan to sell up to NT$60 billion worth of unsecured straight bonds in Taiwan to meet fund demand for production expansion and finance pollution prevention related expenditure, TSMC said.

TSMC said the board meeting greenlit a proposal to issue NT$2.75 in cash dividends for earnings posted in the fourth quarter of last year, which hit a new quarterly high of NT$11.41 earnings per share on the back of solid demand for high performance computing devices and automotive electronics despite slow season effects.

The chipmaker said the ex-dividend date for common shares is scheduled for June 15, and the cash dividends will be paid on July 13.

For most companies in Taiwan that issue cash dividends annually, the ex-dividend date is the date on which a stock begins trading after the cash dividend to be paid out on the previous year’s earnings has been deducted.

In 2019, TSMC became the first company in Taiwan to start issuing cash dividends on a quarterly basis instead of annually. Analysts said paying cash dividends on a quarterly basis is expected to persuade investors to hold the stock longer in a bid to receive quarterly dividends.

Based on the newly announced dividend payout policy, the National Development Fund under the Executive Yuan, the largest single shareholder in TSMC, is expected to pocket about NT$4.55 billion in cash dividends in July as the fund now owns more than 1.65 billion TSMC shares.

TSMC Chairman Mark Liu (???), who holds 12.91 million TSMC shares, is expected to receive NT$35.51 million in cash dividends, while C.C. Wei (???), the company’s CEO, is expected to bag NT$17.45 million as he owns 6.35 million TSMC shares.

TSMC’s board meeting also approved a plan to hold an annual general meeting on June 6.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel