Micronic presents fourth quarter and full year 2007
Taby, Sweden, January 28, 2008 - Micronic Laser Systems AB (listed on the OMX
Stockholm Stock Exchange, in the category Mid cap, Information Technology":
MICR) today presented the Group's interim report for the fourth quarter of 2007
and year-end report for 2007. The information was submitted for publication on
January 28, 8:00 a.m.
* Order intake for 2007 was SEK 634 million (604), of which SEK 136 million (60)
was booked in the fourth quarter.
* Net sales for 2007 are reported at SEK 523 million (1,204), of which fourth
quarter sales accounted for SEK 225 million (266).
* The operating loss for 2007 was SEK 291 million (+123). For the fourth quarter
the operating loss was SEK 42 million (+9).
* The operating loss adjusted for capitalization and amortization of development
costs was SEK 210 million (+220) for the full year 2007. For the fourth quarter
the corresponding figure was a loss of SEK 35 million (+31).
* The loss after tax for 2007 was SEK 207 million (+93), equal to earnings per
share of SEK -5.30 (2.37). The loss after tax for the fourth quarter was SEK 30
million (+10), equal to earnings per share SEK -0.77 (0.24).
* The order backlog at December 31, 2007, was SEK 332 million and consisted
solely of systems. At year-end 2006 the order backlog was SEK 200 million.
“Sales declined from the prior year's level and reached SEK 523 million, down by
a full 57 percent. Since the drop in sales was largely attributable to the
display market, where we have our highest margins, this strongly contributed to
driving down gross margin to 29 percent. We were also impacted by the negative
effects of developments in the foreign exchange market. As a result, Micronic
posted an operating loss of SEK 291 million despite cost-cutting measures during
the year. Development expenditure in 2007 fell by 12 percent, since we have
already developed semiconductor and electronic packaging products for next
technology node. The year's development costs include SEK 81 million in net
amortization of previously capitalized development costs. Our capitalized
development costs for Sigma are now fully amortized,” says Sven Lofquist,
President and CEO of Micronic Laser Systems AB.
“The market for LCD panels showed powerful development during the year and grew
by 26 percent. In the third quarter, we also received system orders for next
generation display manufacturing, so-called G10. Capacity expansion in the
display industry is expected to accelerate sharply in 2008 and the growing
market for LCD photomasks is forecast to stimulate pattern generator investments
starting in the second half of 2008,” adds Sven Lofquist.
“The semiconductor market was a major disappointment for Micronic in 2007. The
year's flat sales were caused by a lack of capacity expansion for volume
production of advanced photomasks (sub-100 nm technology nodes). Volume demand
for advanced photomasks is proportional to the number of new chip designs, which
is determined by the speed at which chip makers move to more advanced technology
nodes. In view of this, we expect system sales to pick up in 2008.
Despite uncertainty in the global economy, there are several factors that
indicate a growing electronics industry, such as the Olympic Games in China, the
phase-out of analogue TV in the USA at the beginning of next year and a rising
share of disposable income spent on electronic devices. On the whole, 2008 is
expected to be significantly better for Micronic than 2007, but with the bulk of
sales in the second half of the year,” concludes Sven Lofquist.
Company contacts:
Sven Lofquist
President & CEO
+46 8 638 52 00
sven.lofquist@micronic.se
Carl-Johan Blomberg
CFO
+46 8 638 52 00
carl-johan.blomberg@micronic.se
About Micronic Laser Systems AB
Micronic Laser Systems is a Swedish high-tech company engaged in the
development, manufacture and marketing of a series of extremely accurate laser
pattern generators for the production of photomasks. The technology involved is
known as microlithography. Micronic´s product offering also includes metrology
systems for display photomasks. Micronic´s systems are used by the world´s
leading electronics companies in the manufacture of television and computer
displays, semiconductor circuits and semiconductor packaging components.
Micronic is located in Taby, north of Stockholm and at present has subsidiaries
in the United States, Japan, South Korea and in Taiwan. Micronic maintains a web
site at: http://www.micronic.se
