Brooks-PRI Automation Reports Fiscal 2002 Fourth-Quarter and Full-Year Results
Wednesday November 20, 8:11 pm ET
CHELMSFORD, Mass., Nov. 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Brooks-PRI Automation, Inc. (Nasdaq: BRKS - News), which delivers total automation for semiconductor manufacturing, today announced financial results for its fiscal fourth quarter and year ended September 30, 2002. The results include the partial-year contributions from the acquisition of PRI Automation, Inc., which was completed on May 14, 2002.
Revenues for the fourth quarter were $103.2 million, a sequential increase of 20.3 percent over previous-quarter revenues of $85.8 million. Total revenues for the fiscal year were $304.3 million, down 20.3 percent from $381.7 million in fiscal year 2001.
Bookings for the fourth quarter were $115.6 million, a sequential increase of 11.4 percent over previous-quarter bookings of $103.8 million. Bookings for the fiscal year were $330.6 million, a decrease of 10.9 percent. Order backlog at fiscal year-end was $126.0 million.
The Company's fourth-quarter results reflect charges totaling $623.1 million resulting from impairment of long-lived assets, the write-off of the Company's deferred tax asset, acquisition-related and restructuring charges, and other charges. The net loss for the quarter on a GAAP ("Generally Accepted Accounting Principles") basis was $673.3 million, or $18.76 per share, compared to a net loss on the same basis of $24.2 million, or $0.89 per share, in the previous quarter. The GAAP net loss for fiscal year 2002 was $720.0 million, or $27.90 per share, compared to the fiscal 2001 GAAP net loss of $29.7 million, or $1.65 per share.
Brooks-PRI has previously reported its net income on a "pro forma" basis, which is before amortization of acquired intangible assets, acquisition-related and restructuring charges, and other charges. For purposes of comparing the current quarter's results to previous periods, the Company reported that its pro forma net loss for the quarter was $16.3 million, or $0.45 per share, compared to a pro forma loss in the previous quarter of $12.3 million, or $0.45 per share. The pro forma loss is primarily attributable to longer-than-expected time to implement planned reductions of workforce and elimination of facilities costs. As in previous earnings reports, a reconciliation of GAAP to pro forma earnings for the quarter is included in the attached exhibits. The pro forma net loss for fiscal year 2002 was $45.5 million, or $1.76 per share, compared to pro forma diluted net income of $13.9 million, or $0.72 per diluted share, for fiscal 2001.
Asset Impairment & Restructuring Charges and Deferred Tax Asset Allowance
The above-mentioned charges aggregating $623.1 million in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2002 include $598.5 million of non-cash charges. The continued weakness in the semiconductor industry and the difficulties in predicting the timing and speed of recovery led the Company to conclude that the values of acquired intangible assets and goodwill arising from prior acquisitions are impaired. Accordingly, Brooks-PRI has recorded an impairment charge of $479.3 million, of which $145.1 million is attributable to acquired intangible assets and $334.2 million is attributable to goodwill. Further, the Company recorded a net charge of $106.7 million to write off its deferred tax assets, which represent historical tax benefits arising from book-to-tax timing differences and current year losses. The ultimate realization of these deferred tax assets depends upon the Company's ability to generate sufficient future taxable income. The Company also recorded adjustments totaling $12.5 million to the value of its inventories to reflect the impact of product discontinuance and to increase reserves for excess inventories.
Brooks-PRI also recorded cash-related charges of $24.6 million to accrue for previously announced workforce reductions and facility closures, and acquisition-related charges. The Company also expects to record restructuring charges during the first quarter of fiscal 2003 to account for further workforce reductions and elimination of facilities in response to the continued downturn of business conditions.
CEO Comments
Robert J. Therrien, President and Chief Executive Officer of Brooks-PRI Automation, said: "Although we were on target with the revenues and bookings for the quarter, the business environment created by the prolonged slowdown in our industry remains very challenging. We continue to take actions that we feel are appropriate to manage our balance sheet and operating structure within the context of the weakness in our sector. We expect that after the restructuring charges during the first quarter of fiscal 2003, the Company will still have approximately $200 million in cash and marketable securities, which we believe should provide us with adequate resources as we strive to reach breakeven."
Mr. Therrien noted that the long-term business strategy of Brooks-PRI remains intact: "Our favorable position in strategic market segments has enabled us to maintain our overall leadership position in semiconductor automation and to make market share gains in key areas. For the quarter, we captured 21 new design-in wins with OEM customers, resulting in a total of 67 new wins for the year. Both the revenues and bookings from 300mm customers increased as a percent of our overall revenues and bookings -- even in a year when many fabs delayed the start of their first silicon or capacity ramps. Through our series of acquisitions, we have broadened our product offerings and improved our market position, especially in factory hardware, where we achieved quarter-to-quarter growth in revenues of more than 50 percent. I am also pleased with our share of the emerging market in mainland China, where our factory management software is used by 75 percent of the new 200mm fabs in operation. We provide factory and equipment automation hardware to all of those fabs, although we do not want to imply that we are the exclusive provider, and we continue to solidify our significant market share while leveraging our customer relationships in that important region of the world."
Mr. Therrien said that Brooks-PRI would continue to take actions in line with current market conditions. "With no catalyst apparent that might drive a meaningful semiconductor industry upturn in the immediate future, we believe it was prudent to reduce our workforce at the end of September and we are now completing a further round of reductions in order to be able to achieve operational breakeven. As a result of the double dip in semiconductor capital spending, our December quarter revenues and bookings are both apt to decline to a range of $80 to $85 million. Longer-term, we are guardedly optimistic that the semiconductor industry's current capital spending retrenchment will lead to higher utilization rates in 2003 and 2004 with positive implications for a spending rebound down the road.
"It has now been six months since we completed our acquisition of PRI Automation, which has significantly enhanced our ability to improve the productivity of semiconductor manufacturers and equipment suppliers as they drive for faster time to market with next-generation products. We have made progress integrating our two companies and our customers are already benefiting by doing business with a global company with unsurpassed industry expertise in terms of products, customer service and intellectual property. We believe that Brooks-PRI has the strategic, operational and financial strength required to build long-term value for customers, employees and shareholders. When the technology sector recovers, I believe that no company in the automation space will be better-positioned to benefit from the upturn in the cycle," Mr. Therrien concluded.
Q4 Fiscal 2002 Highlights
* Booked new factory hardware orders for lithography automation products
from five major customers -- two major U.S. semiconductor manufacturers
in addition to Grace Semiconductor in China, Chartered Semiconductor in
Singapore and Powerchip Semiconductor in Taiwan.
* Booked a new factory hardware order to expand the automated material
handling system (AMHS) at Silterra Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., a foundry that
was named "2002 Fab of the Year" by Semiconductor International
magazine.
* Received volume orders for vacuum robot upgrades from a large OEM for
its installed base of 200mm process equipment.
* Announced large multi-million dollar factory software orders from two
300mm fabs -- one from Europe and one from Chartered Semiconductor in
Singapore -- to implement CIM (Computer Integrated Manufacturing)
systems using Brooks-PRI's manufacturing execution systems and
associated applications as well as integration services.
* Completed successfully the implementation of a multi-million dollar
comprehensive CIM system for AFPD in Singapore, a TFT-LCD manufacturing
joint venture between Toshiba and the government of Singapore. AFPD is
one of the world's largest factories for producing glass panels used in
flat panel displays.
* Announced the FIXLOAD 6M, an enhanced update to the successful 300mm
load-port product line that has more than 8,000 installations
worldwide. With FIXLOAD 6M, Brooks-PRI combines field-proven
performance with maximum configurability, allowing OEMs to meet rapidly
evolving end-user requirements at 300mm production fabs.
* Released iProcess-FDC(TM), a new software product for monitoring
factory-wide process and tool health through both the Internet and
intranets. iProcess-FDC is the only product in the market that
provides data visualization, virtual sensor modeling and uni-variate
and multi-variate analysis for faster process qualification and
automatic fault detection and notification.
* Achieved certification to the ISO 9001:2000 standard at the
manufacturing center in Jena, Germany. Jena is the second site within
Brooks-PRI to achieve certification to the new standard, with Brooks
Automation Asia in Korea receiving certification in 2001. The
remaining sites are targeted for certification by year-end 2003.
* Selected by three leading Asian LCD manufacturers to provide the
material control system (MCS) software for their operations. These
customers are all 5th generation LCD fabs including the largest to-date
5th generation LCD facility in the industry. |
