SEOUL, South Korea, Jan. 28, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- SK hynix Inc. (or 'the Company', www.skhynix.com) today announced financial results for its fiscal year 2021 ended on December 31, 2021. The consolidated revenue of fiscal year 2021 was 42.998 trillion won, while the operating profit amounted to 12.410 trillion won and the net income 9.616 trillion won. Operating margin for the year was 29% and net margin was 22%.

SK hynix achieved record high annual revenue since its foundation. This surpasses the revenue in *2018 when the semiconductor market was in its biggest boom.

Despite uncertain market conditions such as supply chain disruptions, demand for contactless IT technology has increased. Based on its technology and quality competitiveness, SK hynix managed to supply its products proactively, achieving record-breaking annual sales.

For DRAM, SK hynix focused on securing profitability by flexibly responding to demands in PC and server applications in DRAM business. Furthermore, by developing the industry's first DDR5 and HBM3 DRAM, SK hynix has secured leading quality competitiveness in high value-added next-gen products.

In addition, with the competitiveness of 128-layer NAND Flash products the NAND Flash business, which succeeded in turning into a surplus in the third quarter of last year, also recorded a surplus on an annual basis by recording sales growth rate that far exceeded the market average level.

The consolidated revenue of fourth quarter 2021 was 12.377 trillion won while the operating profit amounted to 4.220 trillion won. Sales exceeded 12 trillion won on a quarterly basis for the first time in history, and operating profit continued to reach 4 trillion won for two consecutive quarters.

SK hynix forecasts supply chain issues will gradually improve beginning in the second half of this year, and market demand for memory products will increase.

In line with this, SK hynix decided to continue its strategy of focusing on profitability while containing market volatility by managing its DRAM inventory flexibly.

For NAND Flash, SK hynix will continue to pursue growth in scale. With the launch of its US subsidiary Solidigm after the close of the first phase of Intel NAND and SSD business acquisition last year, SK hynix expects its NAND Flash sales will double compared to last year.

SK hynix decided to raise its dividend per share to 1,540 won, up more than 30% from 1,170 won a year earlier. Additionally, SK hynix will apply new dividend policy from this year to 2024, with the fixed dividend per share raised from 1,000 won to 1,200 won. SK hynix will maintain its policy of distributing an additional 5% of **Free Cash Flow (FCF). The Company also stated that it will utilize approximately 50% of FCFs created over the next three years as shareholder return funds and consider repurchasing treasury stocks depending on the situation.

Meanwhile, SK hynix will initiate a series of new recruitment of college graduates and experienced employees in the first quarter of this year. Compared to previous years, the Company has decided to expand the recruitment plan to prepare for new growth engines in the future, including the establishment of the Yongin Semiconductor Cluster, the launch of the US subsidiary Solidigm, and the full-scale operation of the Icheon M16 fab. The fields of new recruitment include process, device, design, test, packaging, SoC, software, data science, product planning & strategy, and the others, and the recruitment schedule will be posted next month on the website.

* SK hynix achieved annual revenue of 40.445 trillion won, and the operating profit of 20.844 trillion won in 2018.

** Free Cash Flow (FCF): the cash flow generated from business activities subtracts the amount expended for tangible assets acquisition

• FY2021 Earnings

- The financial information of the earnings is written based on K-IFRS.

• FY2021 Q4 Earnings

- The financial information of the earnings is written based on K-IFRS.

Please note that the financial results discussed herein are preliminary and speak only as of December 31, 2021. Readers should not assume that this information remains operative at a later time. In addition, this information may include forward-looking statements that involve a variety of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. For further discussion of these risks and uncertainties, readers should refer to SK hynix Inc.'s filings with the Korea Exchange. This document is neither an offer to sell nor a solicitation of an offer to sell any security of SK hynix Inc.

About SK hynix Inc.

SK hynix Inc., headquartered in Korea, is the world's top tier semiconductor supplier offering Dynamic Random Access Memory chips ("DRAM"), Flash memory chips ("NAND Flash") and CMOS Image Sensors ("CIS") for a wide range of distinguished customers globally. The Company's shares are traded on the Korea Exchange, and the Global Depository shares are listed on the Luxemburg Stock Exchange. Further information about SK hynix is available at www.skhynix.com, news.skhynix.com.