Tower Semi Q3 revenues near $80 mln; changes name

JERUSALEM, Nov 3 (Reuters) - Tower Semiconductor (TSEM.O) said on Tuesday its third-quarter revenue was a record $79.6 million, up 36 percent from a year earlier, helped by its merger with Jazz Semiconductor last year.

Israel-based Tower (TSEM.TA), which also said in a statement that it was changing its name to TowerJazz, last month raised its sales estimate to $77 million-$80 million from a previous forecast of $73 million-$77 million.

Tower is due to announce its full quarterly results on Nov. 9.

In the year since the merger with Jazz was completed, Tower said it added nearly 20 new customers and had realised more than $80 million in sustainable annual cost reductions.

Tower said its customer base had doubled in the past year and it had secured 10 new design wins and that many additional new projects are planned, with the potential for combined annual revenues of more than $100 million.

"We are well positioned to be the leading global specialty foundry," said Russell Ellwanger, chief executive of TowerJazz.

(Reporting by Steven Scheer; editing by Simon Jessop)