BILTHOVEN, The Netherlands, June 25, 2002 (PRIMEZONE)-- ASM International N.V.(Nasdaq:ASMI) (Euronext Amsterdam: ASM) today announced that it is increasingly confident about the Company's prospects and expected performance in the second quarter, ending June 30th, 2002 and subsequent quarters of 2002.
ASM now expects second quarter Net Sales will be above Euro 130 million and anticipates that the consolidated Net Loss will be less than Euro 8 million, both an improvement of more than 30% when compared to the first quarter of this year.
In announcing first quarter results in April 2002, ASMI was cautious in its outlook and indicated second quarter 2002 sales and net losses at comparable or slightly improved levels when compared to the first quarter of this year. For the first quarter, ASM International reported Net Sales of Euro 100.6 million and a Net Loss of Euro (12.2) million or Euro (0.25) per share.
ASM International confirms an increased level of bookings in both Frontend (wafer processing), and even more sharply, in Backend (assembly/packaging) activities, represented by its 54%owned subsidiary ASM Pacific Technology, Ltd. As a consequence the Backlog has been increasing steadily. Since leadtimes in Backend are typically short, this increased order activity also translates to already improved performance in the current quarter.
The Company believes that the high level of bookings to date as well as continued customer requests for production slots and quotations for both Frontend and Backend products and processes add further strength to ASMI's expectation that the upward trend in its financial performance will continue in the remaining quarters of 2002.
As indicated earlier, ASM International will publish its second quarter 2002 financial results on Monday, July 29, 2002 and an investor conference call will be hosted on Tuesday, July 30, 2002.
About ASM
ASM International N.V. based in Bilthoven, the Netherlands, is a global company servicing one of the most important and demanding industries in the world. The Company possesses a strong technology base, stateoftheart manufacturing facilities, a competent and qualified workforce and a highly trained, strategically distributed support network. ASM International and its subsidiaries design and manufacture equipment and materials used to produce semiconductor devices. ASM International and its subsidiaries provide production solutions for wafer processing (frontend segment) as well as assembly and packaging (backend segment) through facilities in the United States, Europe, Japan and Asia. ASM International's common stock trades on Nasdaq (symbol ASMI) and the Euronext Amsterdam Stock Exchange (symbol ASM). For more information, visit ASMI's website at http://www.asm.com.
Safe Harbor Statement under the US Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: All matters discussed in this statement, except for any historical data, are forwardlooking statements. Forwardlooking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forwardlooking statements. These include, but are not limited to economic conditions and trends in the semiconductor industry, currency fluctuations, the timing of significant orders, market acceptance of new products, competitive factors, risk factors related to litigation, commercial and economic disruption due to terrorist activity, armed conflict or political instability and other risks indicated in filings from time to time with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including the Company's Forms 20F and Form 6K as filed.