BILTHOVEN, The Netherlands, Oct. 21, 2002 (PRIMEZONE) -- ASM International N.V. (Nasdaq:ASMI) (AEX:ASM):
- ASMI reconfirms its existing outlook for continued growth of sales and improvement of the bottom line for the second half of 2002, compared to the first half of this year, and also into 2003.
- Third quarter Net Sales of $ 140.0 million, at same level as previous quarter
- Third quarter Net Loss of $ 4.6 million or $ (0.09) per share as compared to a Net Loss of $ 6.4 million or $ (0.13) per share for the previous quarter
- Quarter-end Backlog of $ 180.6 million, up 7.2% from the previous quarter, BooktoBill ratio for the third quarter of 1.09
Please use the following link to view the press release including financial results: http://reports.huginonline.com/877946/109050.pdf
SM today announced the results for the third quarter of 2002. The net loss for the third quarter of 2002 amounted to $4.6 million or $ 0.09 diluted net loss per share compared to a net loss of $12.7 million or $0.26 diluted net loss per share for the third quarter of 2001. By comparison the net loss for the second quarter of 2002 amounted to $6.4 million or $0.13 diluted net loss per share.
For the nine months ended September 30, 2002 the net loss amounted to $23.2 million or $0.47 diluted net loss per share, compared to net earnings of $15.1 million or $0.30 diluted net earnings per share for the same period in 2001.
Net sales
Net sales for the third quarter of 2002 amounted to $140.0 million, almost at the same sales level of $140.9 million in the second quarter of 2002 and an increase of 37.3% compared to net sales of $102.0 million for the same period last year. Net sales for the nine months ended September 30, 2002, amounted to $381.5 million, 16.3% lower than the $455.8 million net sales for the same period in 2001.
The semiconductor equipment market is still impacted by the severe downturn in the industry, which started late 2000. This resulted in a lower capital spending by semiconductor manufacturers, in particular for capacity driven purchases. Despite the lower capacity driven demand, ASMI has seen a continued interest and orders for new technology and 300mm equipment over the last quarters in particular for our Frontend operations. This increased order activity has already resulted in a significantly higher level of sales in the second and third quarter of 2002 as compared to the third and fourth quarter of 2001 and the first quarter of 2002.
Operations
The gross profit margin for the third quarter of 2002 amounted to 38.1% of net sales, 0.3 percentage points above the gross profit margin of 37.8% for the previous quarter. The gross profit margin for the nine months of 2002 amounted to 36.7%, a decrease of 3.8 percentage points compared to 40.5% gross profit margin in the same period in 2001. The lower sales volume and the mix of products sold in the nine months of 2002 compared to the same period in 2001 resulted in a decrease of gross profit margin.
Selling, general and administrative costs were $28.6 million in the third quarter of 2002, the same level of $28.6 million as in the second quarter of 2002, and increased 6.7% compared to $26.8 million in the third quarter of 2001. Selling, general and administrative expenses were 20.9% of net sales in the nine months of 2002, compared to 18.8% of net sales in the nine months of 2001.
Research and development expenses were $21.6 million or 15.4% of net sales in the third quarter of 2002, the same level as in the second quarter of 2002, an increase from $19.9 million or 19.5% of net sales in the third quarter of 2001. For the nine months in 2002 research and development expenses increased by 8.9% compared to the same period last year, and as a percentage of net sales from 12.9% to 16.7%. ASMI continued to keep the research and development expenses at a high level despite the market circumstances and concentrated its investments in research and development on the equipment and product solutions for the next generations of semiconductor devices.
Amortization of goodwill. As of January 1, 2002 ASMI adopted SFAS 142 "Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets." This new accounting standard requires that goodwill not be amortized, but rather tested at least annually for impairment. Consequently, ASMI stopped amortizing goodwill as of January 1, 2002. ASMI did not record an impairment loss upon adoption of SFAS 142. Amortization of goodwill in the third quarter of 2001 amounted to $1.9 million and for the nine months in 2001 to $5.7 million. Earnings (loss) from operations amounted to earnings of $3.2 million in the third quarter of 2002 compared to a loss from operations of $12.1 million in the same period of 2001. For the nine months of 2002, the loss from operations amounted to $3.6 million, compared to earnings of $34.2 million for the nine months of 2001. Before amortization of goodwill, the adjusted loss from operations for the third quarter of 2001 were $10.1 million compared to earnings of $3.2 million in the third quarter of 2002. Net interest and other financial income (expenses) increased from a net expense of $0.9 million in the third quarter of 2001 to a net expense of $2.2 million in the third quarter of 2002. In the nine months of 2002 the net expense amounted to $6.8 million compared to a net expense of $0.3 million in the same period of 2001. The increase in net expense in the nine-months of 2002 was the result of increased borrowings and the full impact of our U.S. $115.0 million 5% convertible notes, issued in November 2001, $1.1 million in amortization of debt issuance costs related to these convertible notes, and a small foreign exchange loss as compared to a small foreign exchange gain in the same period of 2001.
Bookings and backlog
New orders booked in our Front-end operations increased by more than 10%, an increase for the third quarter in a row. The overall level of new orders booked in the third quarter of 2002 amounted to $152.2 million. For the first nine months in 2002 the total of new orders amounted to $429.5 million. The backlog at the end of September stood at $180.6 million, an increase of 7.2% compared to the backlog of $168.4 million at the end of June 2002.
Outlook
The visibility of a strong recovery in the industry is still weak, due to uncertain market and economic conditions, resulting in current low and selective capital spending by semiconductor manufacturers.
Despite the market weakness, ASMI has seen increased order activity for new technology equipment over the past two quarters, which already led to an increase in sales volumes in the second and third quarter of 2002. This in particular in our Frontend operations. ASMI believes it is well positioned in the Frontend segment of the semiconductor equipment market due to its strategies in 300mm, lowk, highk, SiGe, Strained Silicon applications and copper, and in the Backend segment due to its established position as a leading supplier of a full spectrum of innovative products and its recently introduced next generation wire bonders. ASMI also strongly believes that its firm commitment to research and development, its readiness in new technologies, designin wins at toptier customers as well as our strategic partnerships provide us with a broad basis for substantial longterm market share gains.
Based on the current tendency of semiconductor manufacturers to delay further capital spending into the next year, ASMI does anticipate that sales and bottom line levels for the fourth quarter of 2002 will be lower compared to the third quarter of this year. Nevertheless, based on our current backlog and the selection of ASMI's new technologies by top tier customers and in spite of the now weaker than originally anticipated 4th quarter, ASMI reconfirms its existing outlook for a continued growth of sales and improvement of the bottom line for the second half of 2002, compared to the first half of this year, and also into 2003.
ASM INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE CALL
ASM International will host an investor conference call and web cast on Tuesday, October 22, 2002 at
9:00 a.m. U.S. Eastern time 15:00 p.m. Continental European time. The teleconference dialin numbers are as follows: United States: 888.273.9886 International: 1 612.332.0923
The teleconference will be available for digitized replay from 2:30 p.m. (U.S. Eastern time) on Tuesday, October 22, 2002 through Thursday, October 24, 2002 at 11:59 p.m. (U.S. Eastern time). The replay numbers are:
United States: 800.475.6701 International: 1 320.365.3844.
In both cases, the following access code is required: 654297. A simultaneous audio web cast will be accessible at www.asm.com and www.companyboardroom.com.
About ASM
ASM International N.V. based in Bilthoven, 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 U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: All matters discussed in this statement, except for any historical data, are forwardlooking statements. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking 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, litigation involving intellectual property, shareholder and other issues, commercial and economic disruption due to terrorist activity, armed conflict or political instability and other risks indicated in the company's filings from time to time with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including, but not limited to, the company's report on Form 20F and Form 6K as filed.
--- Please use the following link to view the press release including financial results: http://reports.huginonline.com/877946/109050.pdf