SOITEC : Soitec reports consolidated sales of 49.5 million Euros for the first quarter 2014-2015

 Soitec reports consolidated sales of 49.5 million Euros for the first quarter 2014-2015

• Consolidated sales up by 14.4% year on year
• Confirmed electronic sales strong sequential growth for Q2 2014-2015
• Strengthened balance sheet after successful €83.1m capital increase  

Bernin, France, 21^th July 2013 - Soitec (Euronext Paris), a world leader in generating and manufacturing revolutionary semiconductor materials for energy and electronics, today announced consolidated sales of 49.5 million Euros for the first quarter up by 14.4% on a year-on-year basis.

Electronic Business Segment

As anticipated, the Electronic segment recorded a significant sequential decrease in sales by 43.3% compared to last year fourth quarter. End of life PDSOI products drove significant reduction in demand for 300 mm wafer sales. 

Digital sales (i.e. total 300 mm wafer sales) for the first quarter were down by 69.0% at 5.6 million Euros on a year-on-year basis. Other electronic sales dedicated to RF and mobile applications (i.e. small diameter wafer sales excluding royalties and equipments) were down by 24.1% at 16.7 million Euros on a yearly basis as expected due to seasonality in mobile consumer market but with strong rebound which started towards the end of the quarter.

Licensing revenues amounted to 1.0 million Euros and Equipment sales (i.e. Altatech) were at 0.6 million Euros in the first quarter.

Solar Energy Business Segment

The Solar Energy division reported 23.9 million Euros of sales for the first quarter as it continues to execute on its pipeline projects and deliver on South African Touwsrivier project.

Lighting Business Segment

Lighting revenues amounted to 0.1 million Euros.  

Strong sequential growth anticipated for the second quarter in Electronic sales

Electronic sales are expected to post a strong double digit growth in the second quarter of the 2014-2015 financial year compared to the first quarter. The group anticipates that this will be followed by further growth over the financial year. Therefore, the group anticipates that for the full 2014-2015 financial year electronic sales should be equivalent to the full 2013-2014 financial year.

The Solar division is expected to continue to ramp deliveries for the South African project on time with a view to complete deliveries of the project before the end of Q3 calendar year 2014.

Continuation of the Soitec 2015 program

The Group is committed to continue implementing its five-year Soitec 2015 program across its Divisions, which entails the assessment of its organization and its portfolio of activities in order to improve its cost-base structure.

The Soitec 2015 program is focused on addressing significant market evolutions, increasing Soitec's revenue and growth opportunities, and streamlining its current organization with a view to achieve its target of being profitable at the operating profit level by FY 2015-2016.

Successful Capital increase

The €83.1 million share capital increase with preferential subscription rights was oversubscribed with a total demand of approximately 124 million shares, representing 239% of the offer. The proceeds from the issuance will strengthen Soitec's financial profile and its cash position. André-Jacques Auberton-Hervé, Chief Executive Officer of Soitec, declared: "The success of this transaction demonstrates the shareholders' confidence in the Group strategy and I want to thank them. The first three years of our five-year plan Soitec 2015 were marked by significant investments that have enabled the Group to develop products now recognized by the market. This capital increase is a major step to provide Soitec with a financial structure that will allow it to support the rise of its industrial production with the goal of doubling its turnover and return to operating profitability."

Agenda

The second quarter sales for the financial year 2014-2015 will be published on 20 October 2014 after the closing of the Paris Stock Exchange.

About Soitec:

Soitec is an international manufacturing company, a world leader in generating and manufacturing revolutionary semiconductor materials at the frontier of the most exciting energy and electronic challenges. Soitec's products include substrates for microelectronics (most notably SOI : Silicon-on-Insulator) and concentrating photovoltaic systems (CPV). The company's core technologies are Smart Cut(TM), Smart Stacking(TM) and Concentrix(TM), as well as expertise in epitaxy. Applications include consumer and mobile electronics, microelectronics-driven IT, telecommunications, automotive electronics, lighting products and solar power plants for large-scale utilities. Soitec has manufacturing plants and R&D centers in France, Singapore, Germany, and the United States.

For more information, visit: www.soitec.com.

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