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Politics : Formerly About Applied Materials -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: StanX Long who wrote (55255)	11/8/2001 5:27:40 PM
From: advocatedevil	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 70976

"Tokyo Electron 2nd-Qtr Profit Falls 57% to 6 Bln Yen" (Update1) By Minoru Matsutani Tokyo, Nov. 8 (Bloomberg) -- Tokyo Electron Ltd. said second- quarter profit plunged 57 percent, prompting the No. 2 maker of chip-making equipment to reverse its annual forecast to a loss as chipmakers in Japan and elsewhere cut spending. Group net income fell to 6.1 billion yen ($50.4 million), or 34.72 yen a share, in the three months to September from 14.2 billion yen, or 80.82 yen, a year ago. Sales fell 36 percent to 136 billion yen. Tokyo Electron was expected to earn 5.9 billion yen in the second quarter, according to the average forecast of four analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News. Chipmakers worldwide, with the exception of Intel Corp., cut spending this year as slumping sales of personal computers and mobile phones sapped demand for chips. Orders at Tokyo Electron, whose chip-gear business accounted for 82 percent of sales in July- September, have declined for four consecutive quarters. ``Orders aren't looking good,'' said Hiromichi Tsuyukubo, who helps manage about 80 billion yen at Tokyo Mitsubishi Asset Management Ltd., including Tokyo Electron shares. Tokyo Electron ``should brush up its technology even in bad times like now.'' Japan accounted for 34 percent of Tokyo Electron's chipmaking equipment sales in the quarter to Sept. 30, with the U.S. accounting for 24 percent. Taiwan and Korea, the third- and fourth- biggest markets, accounted for 16 percent and 6.4 percent. Other than chip equipment, the company makes computers and electronic components. Tokyo Electron's shares, which have fallen 11 percent this year, rose 1.6 percent to 5,590 yen. Full-Year Loss For the full year, Tokyo Electron said it would post a loss of 8.5 billion yen, reversing its earlier 500 million yen profit forecast. Sales for the year ending March 2002 will total 437 billion yen, down 8.4 percent from its earlier forecast. A full-year loss forecast for the 38-year-old company is no surprise. Orders, which typically lag sales by half a year, have plummeted this year. Orders in the July-September period plunged 87.3 percent to 27.3 billion yen from the same period a year earlier as cancellations from customers rose. In the April-June period, orders tumbled 68 percent. Group net income fell to 2.59 billion yen, or 14.76 yen a share, in the six months to September from 29.4 billion yen, or 167.81 yen, a year ago. Sales fell 23 percent to 253 billion yen. Chipmaker Woes Chipmakers are cutting spending on new equipment after semiconductor prices plunged below the cost of production, resulting in losses at some of the industry's biggest companies. The spot price of 128-megabit dynamic random-access memory chips has plummeted 81 percent to $1.08 in the past 10 months, below the cost of production for all DRAM makers. Japan's five biggest chipmakers reduced capital spending plans at their semiconductor business by half to 350 billion yen for the year ending March 2002 from 694 billion yen originally planned in April. Samsung Electronics Co., the biggest computer memory chipmaker, said last month it will reduce spending on its chip business by about 10 percent to 4 trillion won ($3.11 billion), its third cut this year. STMicroelectronics NV, Europe's biggest semiconductor maker, will spend $1.5 billion on chip equipment this year, compared with $3.3 billion in 2000. quote.bloomberg.com AdvocateDevil