BILTHOVEN, The Netherlands, Oct. 22, 2001 (PRIMEZONE) -- ASM International N.V. (Nasdaq:ASMI) (Euronext:ASM) reported today the operating results for the third quarter of 2001. The Net loss for the third quarter of 2001 amounted to Euro 12.7 million or Euro 0.26 diluted Net loss per share. This compares to Net earnings of Euro 27.6 million or Euro 0.56 diluted Net earnings per share for the same period in 2000.
For the nine months ended September 30, 2001, Net earnings amounted to Euro 15.1 million or Euro 0.30 diluted Net earnings per share, compared to Euro 62.6 million or Euro 1.31 diluted Net earnings per share for the same period in 2000.
Net sales
Net sales for the third quarter ended September 30, 2001 amounted to Euro 102.0 million, a decline of 59% compared to net sales for the same period of last year of Euro 248.7 million and 33% below the sales level of the second quarter of 2001. Net sales for the nine months ended September 30, 2001, amounted to Euro 455.8 million, 32% lower than net sales for the same period in 2000.
The decrease in net sales reflects the impact of the severe downturn in the semiconductor industry, as semiconductor manufacturers further delayed purchases and cut capital spending, thus reducing the demand for semiconductor equipment during this period to far below earlier expectations.
Operations
The Gross profit margin for the third quarter of 2001 decreased to 35.9% of net sales, 6.0 percentage points below the gross profit percentage of 41.9% for the previous quarter. The gross profit margin for the nine months of 2001 amounted to 40.5%, a decrease of 3.7 percentage points when compared to the same period in 2000. The decrease is the result of lower sales volumes and related under-utilization of our manufacturing capacity.
Selling, general and administrative expenses in the third quarter of 2001 decreased 2.1% to Euro 26.8 million from Euro 27.4 million in the second quarter of 2001 and decreased 30.6% as compared to Euro 38.6 million for the third quarter of 2000. Selling, general and administrative expenses were 18.8% of net sales for the nine months of 2001, compared to 16.0% of net sales in the same period in 2000.
Research and development expenses for the third quarter of 2001 increased from Euro 18.7 million or 7.5% of Net sales in the third quarter of 2000 to Euro 19.9 million or 19.5% of Net sales. Research and development expenses for the nine months of 2001 increased 15.6% to Euro 58.7 million or 12.9% of Net sales from Euro 50.7 million or 7.6% of Net sales in the same period in 2000. These increases reflect our continued focus and long-term commitment to the development of equipment and materials for the next generation of semiconductor devices.
Amortization of Goodwill increased to Euro 5.7 million in the nine months of 2001 from Euro 2.3 million in the nine months of 2000. This increase relates to the amortization of goodwill resulting from the acquisition of an additional 4.7% interest in ASM Pacific Technology in the third quarter of 2000.
Earnings (loss) from Operations amounted to a loss of Euro 12.1 million in the third quarter of 2001 as compared to earnings of Euro 53.6 million in the same period of 2000. For the nine months of 2001, earnings from operations amounted to Euro 34.2 million, compared to Euro 135.3 million for the nine months of 2000, a decline of 74.7%. The Operating Margin (earnings from operations as a percentage of net sales) was negative 11.8% in the third quarter of 2001 and positive 7.5% for the first nine months of 2001, compared to 21.6% and 20.3% in the same period of last year. The reduced net earnings in 2001 reflect the sharp decrease in our sales from the current severe downturn in the semiconductor market.
Finance
On June 27, 2001 we completed a multi-currency revolving credit facility agreement with a syndicate group of banks in the amount of Euro 90 million. This facility has allowed us to pay down long- and short-term debt of Euro 50.4 million in July 2001, and further provides additional flexibility for future financing needs.
Bookings and backlog
New orders in the third quarter of 2001 amounted to Euro 76.7 million, 15% lower than the level of new orders received in the second quarter of 2001. The backlog at the end of September 2001 stood at Euro 144.5 million, a decrease of 14.9% compared to the backlog of Euro 169.8 at the end of June 2001. Our book-to-bill ratio for the quarter ended September 30, 2001 was 0.75 compared to 0.59 for the quarter ended June 30, 2001. In our backlog we have several orders for new 300mm technology from first tier customers for delivery in early 2002.
Strategic Partnerships
Despite the current slowdown, we continue to pursue important strategic opportunities that further position ASM for an aggressive future. Through a joint press release issued earlier today, we announced a strategic alliance with, and an investment in, NuTool, Inc., a privately owned semiconductor equipment company. We have taken a 15% interest in this California-based company that is a leading provider of innovative copper deposition technologies.
NuTool's unique, patented Electro Chemical Mechanical Deposition (ECMD(TM)) process offers entirely new process solutions for copper deposition and planarization. By integrating ASM's low-k and atomic layer deposition technologies with NuTool's ECMD(TM), the two companies can offer an outstanding alternative for copper metallization that enhances our opportunities for capturing market share in the fast-growing copper market segment.
We also announced today that we completed an alliance with Genitech, a privately owned Korean company, providing an innovative, patented plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition (PEALD) process for very high quality metal deposition. Genitech's copper super fill technology complements our alliance with NuTool as well as builds on our own experience with atomic layer deposition.
Outlook
The current outlook in the industry is that the overall market for semiconductors and the correlated demand for capital equipment will at the earliest recover in the second half of 2002.
Based on the resulting very low levels of customer short-term commitments we need to take aggressive steps to reduce the cost levels of our operations. We have already taken initial measures that reduce the total staffing levels in Front End as well as Back End with some 10 - 15%. We are also developing additional selective actions that will reduce our break-even levels further without permanently damaging our strategically important technology programs.
Based on the above, we anticipate a slightly lower sales level for the fourth quarter of 2001 -- when compared with the third quarter of this year -- and a continued loss. For the full year 2001 we expect our net earnings out of ongoing activities to be about break-even.
The previously announced 300 mm orders scheduled for delivery in the first half of 2002 remain on target and suggest a possible small up-tick from the year-end levels if market conditions do not deteriorate further over the course of the next few months.
We are confident our Front End strategies in 300 mm, low-k, SiGe and copper will support ASM when the industry recovers. At such point in time ASM Pacific Technology Ltd. will benefit from its established position as the leading supplier of a full spectrum of innovative Back End products.
For the long term, ASM strongly believes that its firm commitments in research and development, its readiness in new technologies, design-in wins at top tier customers and recent strategic partnerships provide the company with a broad basis for long-term market share gains.
Conference Call
An investor conference call will take place tomorrow, Tuesday, October 23, 2001 at
6:00 a.m. US West Coast time
9:00 a.m. US East Coast time
15:00 Continental European time
21.00 Hong Kong time
The teleconference dial-in numbers are:
United States: (888) 273-9887
All others: (612) 332-0637
A digitized replay is available through from 2.15 p.m.
(US Eastern Time) on Tuesday October 23 , 2001 until
Thursday October 25, 2001. The replay telephone numbers
are:
United States: (800) 475-6701
All others: (320) 365-3844
Access code for all replay calls: 605291
A simultaneous radio web cast will be accessible at www.asm.com and www.streetfusion.com
The entire press release for ASM International's Third Quarter Operating Results, including the financial tables, can be found at the following link:
http://www.primezone.com/email/csr/ASM_finalfigures_.pdf
ASM International is headquartered in Bilthoven, the Netherlands. ASM International's subsidiaries design, develop, manufacture and market equipment and materials used to produce semiconductor devices. ASM International and its subsidiaries provide production solutions for the wafer processing, assembly and packaging segments of the semiconductor equipment market through their facilities in the United States, Europe, Japan and Asia. ASM International's common shares trade on the Nasdaq National Market ("ASMI") and on the Euronext Stock Exchange in Amsterdam ("ASM"). More information on ASM can be found on its 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 forward-looking 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 in the semiconductor industry, currency fluctuations, the timing of significant orders, market acceptance of new products, competitive factors, risk factors related to litigation and other risks indicated in filings from time to time with the SEC and Stock Exchange Authorities.