Chartered reportedly denies sale rumors

The company said Friday (Oct. 22) it has received inquiries from the media and investment community asking whether Chartered is going to be privatized or has been informed of an offer for its shares by any third party, according to a Dow Jones report.

The same report cited a Chartered filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission saying that Chartered is "unaware" of any offer for its shares by a third party. It also said the company is unaware of any information that might be responsible with recent high volumes of trading in Chartered shares.

Chartered, which has enjoyed strong support from the Singapore government since its formation, now operates multiple wafer fabs and is part of a technology development consortium with IBM, Samsung and Infineon Technologies AG.

However, it has experienced almost three years of losses and fared worse than larger rivals Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. and United Microelectronics Corp. during the slump of 2001 through 2003. The company made a net income of $15.3 million on sales revenues of $255.8 million in the second quarter of 2004. The profit compared with a net loss of $90 million in the year-ago quarter. Sales were up 100.4 percent from $127.6 million in the year-ago quarter and up 12 percent from $228.4 million in the previous period.