Contact Information: Contacts: Wilson W. Cheung Chief Financial Officer (510) 683-5900 Leslie Green Green Communications Consulting, LLC (650) 312-9060
AXT, Inc. Announces Support of Interim Operations
| Source: AXT, Inc.
FREMONT, CA--(Marketwire - March 20, 2009) - AXT, Inc. (NASDAQ : AXTI ), a leading
manufacturer of compound semiconductor substrates, today announced that the
Board of Directors has invested Wilson W. Cheung, the Company's Chief
Financial Officer, with the responsibility of administering day-to-day
operations following the resignation of the Company's Chief Executive
Officer on March 17, 2009. Mr. Cheung is expected to perform the functions
of principal executive officer in addition to his function as Chief
Financial Officer during this transition period, and pending the
appointment of an interim chief executive officer to serve until a
successor Chief Executive Officer is named.
The Board of Directors intends to continue to work closely with Mr. Cheung
and the Company's other executive officers, to make sure that the Company
continues to operate smoothly and without interruption. Mr. Cheung is
expected to handle daily administration of the Company, with Mr. Raymond A.
Low, Vice President, Corporate Controller to provide additional support to
Mr. Cheung during this period of transition. Mr. Minsheng Lin will manage
operations at the Company's facility in Beijing, China. Mr. Davis Zhang
will manage the Company's joint venture operations. Mr. John J. Cerilli and
Mr. Robert G. Ochrym will manage the Company's global sales, marketing and
business development efforts, with assistance continued to be provided by
the Company's other executive officers.
"The Board of Directors is committed to helping management in any way
necessary during this transition period," said Jesse Chen, Chairman of the
Board of Directors. "We have complete confidence in the ability of our
management team to effectively continue operations of our business while we
move ahead in the process of appointing an interim CEO and pending
appointment of a replacement CEO."
"AXT enters 2009 with a strong financial position, and a diverse and
comprehensive product portfolio addressing a range of growing and emerging
markets. While the macro-environment presents some near-term challenges, we
continue to believe that we can successfully leverage our competitive
advantages and continue to strengthen our results and competitive
positioning as the global economy improves," said Mr. Cheung.
About AXT, Inc.
AXT designs, develops, manufactures and distributes high-performance
compound and single element semiconductor substrates comprising gallium
arsenide (GaAs), indium phosphide (InP) and germanium (Ge) through its
manufacturing facilities in Beijing, China. In addition, AXT maintains its
sales, administration and customer service functions at its headquarters in
Fremont, California. The company's substrate products are used primarily
in lighting display applications, wireless communications, and fiber optic
communications. Its vertical gradient freeze (VGF) technique for
manufacturing semiconductor substrates provides significant benefits over
other methods and enabled AXT to become a leading manufacturer of such
substrates, particularly in optoelectronics applications. AXT has
manufacturing facilities in China and invests in five joint ventures
producing raw materials. For more information, see AXT's website at
http://www.axt.com.
Safe Harbor Statement
The foregoing paragraphs contain forward-looking statements within the
meaning of the Federal Securities laws, including statements regarding our
balance sheet, ability to address growing and emerging markets,
opportunities from our customer relationships, and our ability to continue
to drive future businesses in 2009. These forward-looking statements are
based upon specific assumptions that are subject to uncertainties and
factors relating to the company's operations and business environment,
which could cause actual results of the company to differ materially from
those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements contained in
the foregoing discussion. These uncertainties and factors include but are
not limited to overall conditions in the markets in which the company
competes; global financial conditions and uncertainties, market acceptance
and demand for the company's products; the impact of the factory closures
or other delays by our customers on the timing of sales of products; and
other factors as set forth in the company's annual report on Form 10-K and
other filings made with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Each of
these factors is difficult to predict and many are beyond the company's
control. The company does not undertake any obligation to update publicly
any forward-looking statement, as a result of new information, future
events or otherwise.