Order outlook down at ASML as results confirm flat 2005
Peter Clarke
EE Times
(04/13/2005 2:41 AM EDT)
MUNICH, Germany — Lithography equipment supplier ASML Holding NV (Veldhoven, The Netherlands) reported a net profit of 100 million euro (about $130 million) on net sales of 685 million euro (about $885 million) in the first quarter of 2005.
The results came in slightly below analysts' expectations as did ASML's order in-take for the first quarter, although it was up from the previous quarter. The company added that it expected order intake to drop in the second quarter confirming a predicted flat semiconductor equipment market during 2005. However, CEO Eric Meurice predicted that amidst the flatness ASML would be profitable in all four quarters of 2005.
ASML's Q1 2005 sales of 685 million euro (about $885 million) were down from net sales of 785 million euro (about $1 billion) in the fourth quarter of 2004 but up from net sales of 453 million euro ($585 million) in the same quarter a year before.
"The average selling price for new systems jumped by 15 percent from the previous quarter," said Eric Meurice, president and CEO of ASML, in a statement. "Our order intake for the quarter reflects the current cautious state of the semiconductor industry: yet we have booked more systems quarter on quarter." In Q1 2005, ASML shipped 50 new and 9 refurbished systems compared with 62 new and 19 refurbished machines in Q4 2004. The Q1 2005 average selling price for a new ASML system was 12.3 million euro (about $15.9 million), the company said.
The order backlog as of March 27, 2005 comprised 107 lithography systems with an average selling price of 12.9 million euro (about $16.7 million) per system and this compared with a backlog at the end of 2004 of 131 lithography systems at the same average selling price.
In terms of the company's outlook Meurice said: "Our actual backlog and continued solid operational execution support another good quarter in Q2 2005, the sixth in a row, as we are expecting to ship approximately 50 systems at a 13.3 million euro average selling price."
"The current slow improvement in semiconductor fab capacity utilization makes a sharp recovery of the industry unlikely in 2005. Therefore, we expect Q2 2005 order intake to be lower than that of Q1 2005. Although we remain cautious as our visibility beyond Q3 2005 is limited, the level of order intake and our track record of operational improvements are such that we are confident of continued profitability in each of the remaining quarters of 2005," he concluded.
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