Pay received by TSMC chairman, CEO hits NT$422 million, up 44%

Taipei, April 17 (CNA) The annual pay received by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) Chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) and chief executive officer (CEO) C.C. Wei (魏哲家) hit about NT$422 million (US$14.80 million) in 2020, when the contract chipmaker saw its net profit smashing records.

In its annual report, TSMC said Liu's and Wei's pay for 2020 rose NT$129 million, or 44 percent, from a year earlier, as the world's largest contract chipmaker enjoyed a roughly 50 percent year-on-year increase in net income totaling NT$517.89 billion in 2020.

TSMC's earnings per share for 2020 stood at NT$19.97 in 2020, a significant improvement from NT$13.32 seen in 2019, as the company benefited from global solid demand for the company's high-end 5- nanometer and 7nm processes in the wake of emerging technologies such as 5G applications, high-performance computing (HPC) devices and the Internet of Things.

TSMC's consolidated sales for 2020 also hit a record high of NT$1.34 trillion, up from NT$1.07 trillion a year earlier.

In addition to Liu and Wei, several other executives at TSMC received annual pay packets topping NT$100 million in 2020, according to the annual report.

These executives included Senior Vice President of Europe and Asia Sale Lora Ho (何麗梅), Senior Vice President of Operations Y.P. Chin (秦永沛), Senior Vice President of Research and Development Y.J. Mii (米玉傑), Senior Vice President of Information Technology and Materials Management & Risk Management J.K. Lin (林錦坤) and Senior Vice President of Research and Development Wei-jen Lo (羅唯仁), TSMC said.

Meanwhile, Chief Financial Officer Wendell Huang (黃仁昭), Senior Vice President of the Corporate Planning Organization J.K. Wang (王建光), Senior Vice President of Europe and Asia Sales and Corporate Research under Research and Development Cliff Hou (侯永清), Senior Vice President of Business Development Kevin Zhang (張曉強) and Vice President and General Counsel Sylvia Fang (方淑華) each received between NT$50 million to NT$100 million in annual pay, TSMC added.

In the annual report, Liu and Wei expressed optimism toward TSMC's business prospects after the company posted a record high in sales in 2020 for the 11th consecutive year. TSMC's 2020 sales in U.S. dollar terms rose 31.4 percent from a year earlier, beating the average growth of 10 percent in the global semiconductor industry.

According to the annual report, TSMC's shipments hit 12.40 million 12-inch equivalent wafers in 2020, up from 10.10 million units a year earlier, while sales of chips made on the 16nm process and more advanced technologies, including the 5nm and 7nm processes, accounted for 58 percent of the company's total sales in 2020, up from 50 percent a year earlier.

The 5nm process is the latest technology TSMC has launched into commercial production since the second quarter of last year. The company is also developing the 3m and 2nm processes, and the 3nm technology is scheduled to begin mass production in 2022.

TSMC said that in 2020, the company provided 281 different production technologies to its 510 clients worldwide and rolled out 11,617 products.

In 2020, the company accounted for 24 percent of total production value in the global semiconductor industry, excluding the memory chip segment, up from 21 percent in 2019.

Liu and Wei expressed gratitude to all of TSMC's shareholders for their support for and trust in the company, expressing hope that the company will continue to grow in the long term.

After a prosperous 2020, TSMC on Thursday forecast its sales will grow 20 percent from a year earlier in 2021, which represents an upgrade from a previous estimate of 15 percent.

The 20 percent growth will beat the 12 percent increase in sales anticipated for the global semiconductor industry, excluding the memory chip segment, and also surpasses the expected 16 percent sales increase for the global pure wafer foundry business. An annual general meeting has been scheduled by TSMC for June 8.