ATMI Reports First Quarter Financial Results; Quarterly Revenues Increase 17% Sequentially
DANBURY, Conn., April 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- ATMI, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATMI - news), a leading supplier of specialty materials and services to the world's semiconductor manufacturers, today announced revenues of $48.4 million and a net loss of $2.7 million, or $.09 per share, for the quarter ending March 31st, 2002.
Revenues grew 17% sequentially from $41.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2001, but declined 37% compared to the first quarter of 2001. The net loss and earnings per share improved 40% from the prior quarter, but remained at a loss compared to reported earnings of $3.0 million, or $0.10 per share, in the year-ago first quarter. Excluding certain special items, principally restructuring charges and certain one-time gains, earnings in the first quarter of 2001 were $7.9 million, or $0.26 per share.
Doug Neugold, President, said, ``Stronger-than-expected sales in our materials business led our quarterly performance. Some of this is no doubt inventory replenishment, and some a result of the beginning of a recovery in the industry. New product sales, primarily to advanced interconnect applications, exceeded our expectations in the first quarter, for both systems and materials. We also had very good results in Asia, where we won business from customers upgrading lines and saw improved sales in materials building off of last year's bundled solution wins.''
Dan Sharkey, Chief Financial Officer, said, ``ATMI's primary initiative during 2002 is to return to profitability. The cost containment measures we instituted last year stripped almost $30 million out of our annual expenses. We are seeing some positive effect now, as our overall operations inch closer to breakeven and, we hope later this year, profitability. The Materials segment grew 29% sequentially to $29.2 million, driven by liquid materials and associated delivery equipment, and strong SDS® sales. Our Technologies segment revenues expanded 2% sequentially to $19.2 million. Declines in abatement and sensing product shipments during the quarter were offset by strong, but non-recurring, spare parts sales.''
``During the quarter we used our cash position to pay down $18 million of debt that had above market interest rates. Otherwise, cash flow from operations and approximately $7 million of capital spending in the quarter brought our cash balance to approximately $183 million at March 31st.''
Gene Banucci, Chief Executive Officer, said, ``It's clear the semiconductor industry has turned a corner. There is strong wafer start activity in Taiwan, positive movement at select U.S. and Korean manufacturers, and stabilization in the rest of the world. On the other hand, that does not mean that we expect an imminent upswing in our equipment and epi services businesses, as there is still plenty of unutilized semiconductor manufacturing capacity throughout the world which will retard the growth of those businesses for another few quarters.'' |
