(Yicai) May 9 -- Shares of Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation slid after first-quarter earnings at China's biggest contact chipmaker fell short of estimates and the company said it expects revenue to decline this quarter.

SMIC [SHA: 688981] finished 4.6 percent lower at CNY85.83 (USD11.85) a share in Shanghai today, while its Hong Kong-listed stock [HKG: 0981] fell 4.8 percent to close at HKD43 (USD5.53).

Based on Chinese accounting standards, net profit soared 162 percent to CNY1.4 billion (USD193.3 million) in the three months ended March 31 from a year earlier, thanks to a jump in wafer sales and an improved product mix, SMIC’s financial report said yesterday.

Revenue jumped 29 percent to CNY16.3 billion (USD2.25 billion). The Shanghai-based foundry forecast a quarter-on-quarter drop of 4 percent to 6 percent for the current three months.

Gross profit was USD506 million, up 1.4 percent from the fourth quarter of last year and 111 percent from a year ago. Gross profit margin reached 23 percent, staying about flat quarter on quarter and up 8.8 percentage points year on year. SMIC gave guidance for GPM of 18 percent to 20 percent for this quarter.

Based on international financial reporting standards, SMIC's first-quarter net profit surged 409 percent to USD323 million and revenue 28 percent to USD2.5 billion, the firm noted.

Last year, SMIC’s net profit fell 23 percent to CNY3.7 billion, while revenue jumped 28 percent to CNY57.8 billion, based on Chinese accounting standards. Fourth-quarter profit fell 13.5 percent to CNY992 million (USD137.3 million) from a year ago, with income up 31 percent at CNY15.9 billion.

Editor: Martin Kadiev