BEIJING, April 25 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- Vimicro International Corporation
(Nasdaq: VIMC), a leading fabless semiconductor company that designs and
develops multimedia semiconductor products and solutions, today announced a
change of its independent auditors from PricewaterhouseCoopers Zhong Tian CPAs
Limited Company ("PwC") to Ernst & Young Hua Ming ("E&Y") for the fiscal year
ended December 31, 2007. PwC previously audited the Company's financial
statements for each of the three years ended December 31, 2003, 2004 and 2005.
PwC is currently auditing the Company's financial statements for the fiscal
year ended December 31, 2006.
On April 23, 2007, the Company's Audit Committee authorized and approved:
-- the non-renewal of the engagement with PwC as the Company's independent
registered public accounting firm; and
-- the appointment of E&Y as Vimicro's independent registered public
accounting firm, beginning with the fiscal year ending December 31,
2007
On April 24, 2007, the Company and E&Y signed an engagement letter
appointing E&Y as Vimicro's independent registered public accounting firm
beginning with the fiscal year ended December 31, 2007.
"The Board believes that this transition is necessary to enhance
efficiency within the auditing process. Currently, we are working closely with
PwC to finalize the Company's fiscal 2006 financials and ensure a smooth
transition to E&Y," stated Donald Lucas, Director and Chairman of Vimicro's
Audit Committee. "We are confident that E&Y's worldwide experience and
talented, dedicated professionals will assist the company in the timely
preparation and delivery of Vimicro's future financial statements."
As a result of the transition of independent auditors, the Company also
announced that it would postpone the release of its financial results for the
fourth quarter and fiscal year ended December 31, 2006, which was previously
scheduled for April 26, 2007. The Company now expects this announcement and
associated conference call to occur during the month of May. An announcement
regarding the exact date and time of the release and conference call will be
forthcoming.
About Vimicro International Corporation
Vimicro International Corporation is a worldwide leading fabless
semiconductor company that designs, develops and markets proprietary embedded
multimedia signal processing chips and solutions that enable multimedia
applications for mobile phones over 2.5G/3G networks and PCs over broadband
Internet. Vimicro's ADSs, each of which represents four ordinary shares, are
currently trading on the NASDAQ global market under the ticker symbol "VIMC."
Forward Looking Statements
This announcement contains forward-looking statements. These statements
are made under the "safe harbor" provisions of the U.S. Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements can be
identified by terminology such as "will," "expects," "anticipates," "future,"
"intends," "plans," "believes," "estimates," "confident" and similar
statements. Among other things, the quotations from management in this
announcement, as well as Vimicro's expectations and forecasts, contain
forward-looking statements. Vimicro may also make written or oral forward-
looking statements in its periodic reports to the U.S. Securities and Exchange
Commission on forms 20-F and 6-K, etc., in its annual report to shareholders,
in press releases and other written materials and in oral statements made by
its officers, directors or employees to third parties. Statements that are not
historical facts, including statements about Vimicro's beliefs and
expectations, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements
involve inherent risks and uncertainties. A number of factors could cause
actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-
looking statement, including but not limited to the following: our limited
history of achieving net profit; our growth strategies; our future business
development, results of operations and financial condition; our ability to
develop and sell mobile multimedia processors that meet changing consumer
preferences and industry standards; decrease in the demand for our notebook
and PC camera multimedia processors and third-party image sensors which we
bundle with some of our PC camera multimedia processors; our ability to secure
sufficient foundry capacity in a timely manner; our ability to maintain
existing customers and attract new customers; and the expected growth of the
mobile multimedia processor market. Further information regarding these and
other risks is included in our annual report on Form 20-F filed with the
Securities and Exchange Commission. Vimicro does not undertake any obligation
to update any forward-looking statement, except as required under applicable
law. All information provided in this press release is as of April 24, 2007,
and Vimicro undertakes no duty to update such information, except as required
under applicable law.
