Business/Technology Editors
ABOUT TERADYNE
Teradyne (NYSE: TER) is the world's largest supplier of automatic test equipment and is also a leading supplier of high performance interconnection systems. Teradyne's test products are used by manufacturers of semiconductors, circuit assemblies, voice and broadband telephone networks. Teradyne's backplane assemblies and high-density connectors are used by manufacturers of communications and computing systems central to building networking infrastructure. The company had sales of $1.4 billion in 2001 and currently employs about 8000 people worldwide. For more information visit www.teradyne.com.
SAFE HARBOR STATEMENT
Statements in this release, other than historical performance, include forward-looking statements relating to future financial performance made under the Safe Harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements include statements regarding our revenue and profit expectations and future business strategies and market opportunities, as well as statements regarding the possible future direction of the U.S. economy. These statements are neither promises nor guarantees, but involve risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from expectations. In particular, our business is dependent on the current and anticipated market demand for electronics, which has been impacted by the economic slowdown that began in the latter portions of 2000. The uncertainty regarding the future growth rate of worldwide economies has caused many companies to reduce capital investment and may cause further reduction of such investments in the future. These reductions have been particularly severe in the electronics and semiconductor industry which Teradyne serves and have contributed to Teradyne incurring losses in recent periods and may contribute to further losses. In addition, the markets which Teradyne serves have historically been quite cyclical and may continue to be so. Further, our backlog has and may continue to be adversely affected as customers determine whether to defer or cancel orders which previously had been accepted. All of these factors could result in further decreased revenues. Our business is also affected by our ability to develop and ship new and sometimes more complex products to address changing customer needs, by new offerings by competitors and by intense competition throughout the world in each of our operating segments from competitors having substantial resources available for the engineering, manufacturing, marketing and distribution of their products. The current economic decline and the resulting oversupply could increase the possibility of intensified price competition in certain markets and result in the need to lower our prices, which could result in decreased revenues. In addition, our acquisition of GenRad, Inc. during 2001 and any future acquisitions or divestitures could affect our ability to manage and maintain our business. Further, as a result of our issuance of $400 million aggregate principal amount of convertible senior notes in October 2001, together with the approximately $45 million mortgage financing which we completed in December 2001, we have substantially increased our debt service obligations and ratio of debt to total capitalization. If our cash flow should be insufficient to meet these obligations, we might have to reduce or curtail certain activities of our business. Finally, our ongoing expense control measures may not have the intended effect on our future financial results. These measures could have long-term negative effects on our business by reducing our pool of technical talent, decreasing improvements in our products and making it more difficult for us to respond to large customer orders if the economy does not recover. Readers should not place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date they are made, and Teradyne undertakes no obligation to update the information contained in this release. For further information regarding risks and uncertainties associated with Teradyne's business, please refer to Teradyne's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including, but not limited to, Teradyne's annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. Any forward-looking statements should be considered in light of all these factors. |
