STMicroelectronics announced financial results for the fourth quarter and full year 2014. Fourth quarter net revenues totaled $1.83 billion, gross margin was 33.8%, and net income per share was $0.05. For the full year 2014, net revenues totaled $7.40 billion, gross margin was 33.7%, and net income per share was $0.14. “Overall, 2014 was a year in which we made significant steps forward – commented Carlo Bozotti, STMicroelectronics president and CEO -. Thanks to the talent and product leadership drive of our employees, we have built a more focused, market-driven portfolio of sense, power, automotive products and embedded processing solutions. New flagship products during this past year included our 32-bit microcontrollers for general purpose and automotive applications, MEMS microphones, touch-screen controllers, ultra-HD products for set-top box and low voltage power MOSFETs and IGBTs. On a year-over-year basis, revenues in 2014 for the Microcontrollers and Automotive Groups increased by 10% and 8% respectively, with the Industrial & Power Discrete Group growing as well. We captured numerous key design wins for new products and functionality at existing customers. We also enlarged our customer base, through an expansion of market reach and our ability to seize opportunities for application diversification, including the Internet of Things. Our customer base expansion was demonstrated by the strong performance from distribution that grew to 31% of revenues in 2014 from 26% in 2013”. Besides, for the full year 2014, free cash flow improved by $376 million to positive $197 million in 2014 from negative $179 million in 2013. Net income was $128 million in the full year 2014 compared to a net loss of $500 million in the full year 2013.
As regards to the first quarter of 2015, Bozotti says: “Based upon our backlog, current plans of customers as well as the overall semiconductor market environment, we expect revenues in the first quarter of 2015 to decrease sequentially by about 5% at the mid-point, which is better than our normal seasonal evolution. Our main objective during 2015 is to continue to deliver year-over-year improvement, by returning to revenue growth and by continuing to improve our cost structure”.
