(Yicai) Aug. 19 -- GigaDevice Semiconductor, a major Chinese designer of flash memory chips, said first-half profit surged almost 12 times from a year earlier, driven by strong demand.

Net profit soared 1,092 percent to CNY6.9 billion (USD1 billion) in the six months ended June 30, up from CNY575.5 million (USD85.3 million) a year ago, the Beijing-based firm said in an earnings report released yesterday. Revenue climbed 179 percent to CNY11.6 billion (USD1.7 billion).

GigaDevice was able to increase product sales and prices amid tight chip supply in the first half, swelling profit at its memory business, the firm noted. Microcontroller shipments logged solid growth, thanks to strong demand from the industrial, consumer, and automotive sectors.

Improvements in the size and quality of revenue led to a surge in the company’s overall operating performance, GigaDevice pointed out. Fair-value gains jumped by CNY2.221 billion to CNY2.228 billion from a year earlier, largely from investments in securities.

Spending on research and development jumped 41 percent to about CNY966 million in the period.

GigaDevice’s shares [SHA: 603986] closed down 7.6 percent at CNY403.71 (USD59.87) each in Shanghai today amid a broad-based selloff in Chinese mainland equities, with technology stocks bearing the brunt of the losses.

Editor: Futura Costaglione