Off the top of your head Aloha, do you know if service and spares revenue carries a greater margin than laser unit sales? I've sent several emails out to Cymer IR, but it will take some time for the answers I'm sure. Separately, increased fixed costs will affect earnings in '98 is one thing I'm currently thinking about, but I see top-line margins improving also. Any thoughts on units sold in '98 by product category? Anyone? Scanner manufacturing proficiency is most likely increasing, so orders placed around now will require shipment in the latter part of '98.
To Jess Beltz, What is your read of the following?
satellite.nikkei.co.jp
The writing-off of nonperforming loans by Japan's city banks, long-term credit banks and trust banks will be delayed by at least one to two years because of souring loans to Asian borrowers, a major think tank projects.
If the banks post evaluation gains on their stockholdings to write off
delinquent loans, their capital adequacy ratios could fall below the 8% required by the Bank for International Settlements, says Dai-ichi Life Research Institute Inc.
The analysis assumes that the same ratio of bad loans to total loans at Thai banks applies to Japanese bank loans to Thailand and other Asian countries.
Bad loans at Thai commercial banks reportedly stand at 370 billion
baht, or 10% of their total lending.
However, the figure rises to around 1.3 trillion baht, or 30% of total
loans, if bad loans at Thai finance companies are included, the research firm estimates.
Loans by Japanese banks to Asian countries other than Japan currently
stand at 34 trillion yen, according to a survey by the BIS.
Applying the 30% delinquency rate to that total leads the research firm to believe that 10 trillion yen worth of the loans are nonperforming.
Assuming that Japanese city banks, long-term credit banks and trust
banks use core business profits to write off the 10 trillion yen, it will take one or two years more than the banks project to write off the complete amount, the think tank concludes. |
