SK hynix reported operating losses for the fourth quarter last year, the first in a decade, amid a slowdown in the global chip market.

The world's second-largest memory chip maker announced on Wednesday that it posted an operating loss of one-point-seven trillion won between October and December 2022, compared to a profit of four-point-21 trillion won a year earlier.

The company had previously logged a quarterly loss of 24 billion won in the third quarter of 2012.

Sales fell 37-point-eight percent to seven-point-seven trillion won, with a net loss of three-point-52 trillion won.

For 2022 as a whole, SK hynix recorded an operating profit of just over seven trillion won, down 43-point-five percent from the previous year. Sales rose three-point-eight percent to 44-point-six trillion won, with a net profit of two-point-43 trillion won.

In a statement, the chipmaker said that while sales continued to grow last year, operating profits fell due to a protracted downturn in the global semiconductor market over the latter half of the year.

The company said it plans to reduce investments and costs in the wake of lingering uncertainties, while trying to minimize the impact of the downturn by prioritizing markets with high growth potential.

Meanwhile, the company forecast an improvement in the market starting in the second half of this year.