BILTHOVEN, The Netherlands, July 23, 2001 (PRIMEZONE)-- ASM International N.V. (Nasdaq:ASMI) (AEX:ASM) reported today the operating results for the second quarter of 2001. Net earnings for the second quarter of 2001 amounted to Euro 9.3 million or Euro 0.19 diluted Net earnings per share. These earnings are in the top half of the guidance given by the company. This compares to Net earnings of Euro 26.1 million or Euro 0.53 diluted Net earnings per share for the same period in 2000.
For the six months ending June 30, 2001, Net Earnings amounted to Euro 27.9 million or Euro 0.56 diluted Net earnings per share, compared to Euro 35.0 million or Euro 0.74 per share for the same period in 2000.
Net sales
Net sales for the second quarter ended June 30, 2001 amounted to Euro 153.1 million, a decline of 40% compared to net sales for the same period of last year of Euro 253.7 million and 24% below the sales level of the first quarter of 2001. Net sales for the first half of 2001, amounted to Euro 353.8 million, 16% lower than net sales for the first half of 2000.
The decrease in net sales reflects the impact of the severe downturn in the semiconductor industry that has occurred over the last several months. Most of the contraction took place in the company's back-end operations. Net sales for the first half of 2001 of the company's front-end wafer equipment amounted to Euro 211.4 million compared to Euro 155.7 million for the first half of 2000, an increase of 36%. However, front-end sales decreased in the second quarter compared to the first quarter of 2001.
Net sales for the first half year of 2001 for the back-end assembly and packaging equipment and materials amounted to Euro 142.4 million compared to Euro 263.9 million for the first half of 2000, a decrease of 46%.
Operations
The gross profit margin for the second quarter of 2001 amounted to 41.9% of net sales, slightly above the gross profit margin of 41.7% for the previous quarter. The gross profit margin for the first half of 2001 amounted to 41.8%, a decrease of 1.8 percentage points compared to the first half of 2000. The decrease came in particular from back-end activities as a result of lower production and sales volumes.
Selling, general and administrative costs were Euro 27.4 million in the second quarter of 2001, compared to Euro 31.6 million in the first quarter of 2001, a decrease of 13.3%, and a decrease of 31.0% compared to Euro 39.7 million for the second quarter of 2000. Selling, general and administrative expenses were 16.7% of net sales for the first half of 2001, compared to 16.3% of net sales for the first half of 2000.
Investments in Research and development increased from Euro 18.2 million or 7.2% of Net sales in the second quarter of 2000 to Euro 19.8 million or 12.9% of net sales in the second quarter of 2001. Investments in research and development increased by 20.8% in the first six months of 2001 compared to the same period last year, and as a percentage of net sales from 7.6% to 11.0%. The company concentrated its investment in research and development on the equipment and product solutions for the next generations of semiconductor devices. In the company's front-end, these investments were concentrated on high-k dielectrics, low-k dielectrics, Atomic Layer CVD, 300mm applications and the Levitor RTP system. Research and development in back-end is concentrated on performance improvements and new products.
Earnings from Operations amounted to Euro 15.0 million in the second quarter of 2001, a decline of 71.7% as compared to the same period of 2000. For the first half of 2001, earnings from operations amounted to Euro 46.3 million, compared to Euro 81.7 million for the first half of 2000, a decline of 43.4%. The Operating Margin (earnings from operations as a percentage of net sales) was 9.8% in the second quarter of 2001 and 13.1% for the first half of 2001, compared to 20.8% and 19.5% in the same period of last year.
Finance
On June 27, 2001, the company entered into a multi-currency revolving credit facility agreement with a syndicate of banks in the amount of Euro 90 million. The company used borrowings under this facility to pay down long and short-term debt of Euro 50.4 million in July 2001. This facility further provides additional flexibility for future financing needs.
Bookings and backlog
New orders, net of cancellations, in the second quarter of 2001 amounted to Euro 90.6 million, which is 3.8% higher than the level of net new orders received in the first quarter of 2001. For the first half of 2001 the total of new orders, net of cancellations, amounted to Euro 177.9 million. The backlog at the end of June 2001 stood at Euro 169.8 million, a decrease of 26.9% compared to the backlog of Euro 232.3 at the end of March 2001. Despite cancellations of system deliveries from customers in the first half of 2001, the company's book-to-bill ratio is at a level of 0.59, when calculated on a three-month basis.
Also in the second quarter of 2001 the company received several orders for new 300mm technology from first tier customers for delivery in early 2002. These orders are included in the current backlog.
Outlook
With customer short-term commitments continuing at very low levels, we currently anticipate a sequential decline in sales for the three months period ending September 30, and almost certainly leading to a limited loss.
The global downturn in semiconductor capital spending also continues to impact visibility beyond one quarter. Consequently, the outlook for the fourth quarter remains unclear. Given these uncertainties, we find it at this stage unrealistic to provide precise guidance for the fourth quarter of 2001, but feel confident that ASMI will close 2001 with a clearly positive overall Net Profit for the year as a whole -- this notwithstanding the current difficult circumstances in our industry.
At the same time, we continue to strongly believe that our company will experience renewed growth as from the first quarter of 2002, when shipments related to major 2001 design wins for front-end equipment begin to contribute to sales and operating results. We are today making certain that our production, as well as worldwide technical support capabilities, is in line with this expected growth.
Conference Call
An investor conference call will take place tomorrow, Tuesday, July 24, 2001 at http://www.primezone.com/files/pressreleaseQ2_draft.pdf.
6:00 a.m. U.S. West Coast time 9:00 a.m. U.S. East Coast time 15:00 Continental European time 21.00 Hong Kong time
The teleconference dial-in numbers are:
United States: (800) 553-0327 All others: (612) 332-0923
A digitized replay is available through from 1:00 p.m. (U.S. Eastern Time) on Tuesday July 24, 2001, until Thursday July 26, 2001. The replay telephone numbers are:
United States: (800) 475-6701 All others: (320) 365-3844
Access code for all replay calls: 592899
A simultaneous radio Webcast will be accessible at www.asm.com and www.streetfusion.com
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 and on the Euronext Stock Exchange in Amsterdam under the symbol "ASMI." More information on ASM can be found on its 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 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.
The entire release can be found at http://www.primezone.com/files/pressreleaseQ2.pdf