Live news: Singapore lowers 2023 growth forecast on weaker than expected GDP data

Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp, China’s national chip champion, warned on Friday that any market recovery would be slower than expected due to a cloudy economic outlook and geopolitical tensions.

Zhao Haijun, co-chief executive, said SMIC had anticipated a better recovery after the lifting of Covid-19 curbs in the March quarter, but the situation in the coming year seemed “less optimistic”.

The chipmaker’s second-quarter revenue was $1.56bn, up 7 per cent quarter-on-quarter but down 18 per cent compared to the same period last year, narrowly beating the estimates of analysts polled by Refinitiv.

Net profit was $402.8mn, down 22 per cent year-on-year, ahead of expectation of $84.2mn.