Brooks Automation Reports Results for Fiscal 2004 Third Quarter Ended June 30, 2004
Thursday July 29, 8:02 am ET
Company exceeds earnings guidance and delivers record-level revenues and bookings
CHELMSFORD, Mass., July 29 /CNW/ -- Brooks Automation, Inc. (Nasdaq: BRKS - News), which delivers hardware and software systems that enable semiconductor and other complex industries to improve manufacturing efficiencies, today announced results for its fiscal 2004 third quarter ended June 30, 2004.
Revenues for the third quarter 2004 were $155.2 million, a sequential increase of 12.5 percent from the preceding quarter revenues of $138.0 million, and an 84.7 percent increase from the third quarter 2003 revenues of $84.0 million. Bookings for the quarter were $155.7 million, a sequential increase of 2 percent from the preceding quarter bookings of $152.7 million, and an increase of 112 percent over the third quarter 2003 bookings of $73.4 million.
The net income for the third quarter 2004 on a GAAP ("Generally Accepted Accounting Principles") basis was $12.3 million, or $0.27 per diluted share, ahead of guidance, compared to a net income of $6.2 million, or $0.14 per diluted share in the immediately preceding quarter, and a net loss in the third quarter 2003 of $36.4 million or $0.99 loss per share. Included in GAAP net income were restructuring charges totaling $0.9 million and amortization of acquired intangibles totaling $0.9 million. These charges reduced earnings in the third quarter by $0.04 per diluted share.
Commenting on the results of fiscal Q3, Brooks Automation chairman and chief executive officer Robert J. Therrien said, "I am extremely proud of the Company's performance both financially and operationally during this growth cycle of our industry. GAAP earnings of $0.27 per share exceeded our guidance for the quarter. Our ongoing earnings for the quarter were better than the Thomson FirstCall consensus estimates which exclude the restructuring charges and amortization of acquired intangibles. Brooks continued to improve its revenues and bookings from the preceding quarter, but just as importantly, we were able to meet customer commitments while maintaining good control over expenses and working capital. As a result the net change in cash and securities for the period was an increase of $11.6 million even while we continued to ramp our business to meet demand. Revenues of $155.2 million exceeded the high end of our guidance of $150 million entering the quarter, helped by the completion of some long standing contracts for our legacy AMHS product installations. These above-plan AMHS revenues added to top-line growth but carried lower gross margins, impacting the progress we are making in improving gross margin leverage. A more balanced mix in Q4 should be more representative of the progress we have made in improving the gross margin of the Company. Bookings increased to $155.7 million for the quarter, driven by a continued stream of orders from a broad base of OEM and end user customers. I believe that the Company is well-positioned for continued market share gains and profitable growth through the current industry growth cycle. Longer term, our emphasis at Brooks is on building a sustainable business model that has the potential to grow significantly from peak-to-peak of our industry cycles, independent of this industry's secular peak-to-peak growth rate. We believe that key industry trends such as accelerating OEM outsourcing of automation components and subsystems and increased build-out of 300mm fabs put Brooks at the sweet spot of growth."
Edward C. Grady, president and chief operating officer, said "Brooks is committed to manufacturing and operational excellence as a core competency. This capability coupled with engineering expertise and domain knowledge is important to have in-house because of the high-mix, low-volume nature of our business. Our flex factory model enabled us to ramp production the past few quarters without significant increase in fixed cost and allows us to reduce or eliminate production bottlenecks. We have standardized on a common manufacturing and planning system for our production lines that helps us manage our capacity and measure performance. Another important area of focus is the streamlining of supply and sourcing. Our aggressive consolidation of our supply chain has resulted in incremental cost savings and helped us reduce potential bottlenecks in obtaining parts. Many of our remaining cost reduction initiatives, such as redesigning of products and better leveraging of our global supply chain, should further drive gross margin improvements over the next several quarters. We are seeing strong operational results and earnings leverage due to the ability of our world class team to execute our business strategy. It is clear that our operational performance has contributed to significant gains in the market. Importantly, we have gained the confidence of customers by satisfying their requirements for quality, cost, delivery, and need for flexibility through this period of industry growth. The Brooks organization remains focused on continuously improving operational performance throughout all cycles of the industry."
Mr. Therrien commented on Brooks' business outlook. "The market indicators are mixed for the next 3 to 6 months, reflecting both the continued investment plans of the semiconductor industry for new 300mm fabs as well as the need for some segments of the market to right-size their inventory. We continue to see orders and revenues staying at the current level in fiscal Q4. Further improvements in gross margin should offset the impact of higher variable compensation in Q4. As a result, net income for Q4 is projected to roughly match that of Q3. We remain focused on what we can control at Brooks - building a culture of excellence and staying committed to delivering positive results for our customers, our shareholders and our employees."
Q3 Fiscal 2004 Highlights
* Announced a collaborative program that leverages Applied Materials'
global service infrastructure and capabilities to deliver world class
on-site support and spare parts management to Brooks' factory
automation hardware customers.
* Announced an agreement with HP to provide global software applications
solutions for adaptive manufacturing and enterprise performance
management.
* Announced a strategic alliance in which Cimetrix will provide
SECS/GEM/300mm communications standards software and support for Brooks
OEM system automation products.
* Captured 12 new OEM design-in wins in Q3.
* OEM business achieved third consecutive quarter of record quarterly
bookings.
* Shipped over 190 OEM systems units in the quarter, consisting of either
atmospheric equipment front end modules (EFEM) or vacuum systems.
* OEM Systems achieved book-to-bill ratio of 1.4 for Q3.
* Received volume shipment order for GX6000 vacuum cluster tool system
from Japanese OEM.
* Shipped first unit of MXT800EX II, an enhanced UHV double cluster
platform, to a Japanese OEM.
* Received acceptance for Phase I of installation of OneFab AMHS at North
American DRAM manufacturer - on schedule.
* Achieved record bookings in the quarter for lithography automation
products, with orders from 12 customers evenly distributed throughout
North America, Europe and Asia.
* Received multiple expansion orders for 200mm AMHS installations from 4
customers.
* Continued strength in 200mm SMIF sales into China with multi-million
dollars in revenues.
* Booked multi-million dollar order for factory software from a major
foundry in Asia for its 300mm production fab.
* Booked two multi-million dollar orders from Taiwanese flat panel display
(FPD) manufacturers for Brooks' factory software and services.
Conference Call and Webcast
Brooks Automation will host a conference call on Thursday, July 29, 2004 at 9:00 AM Eastern to review its fiscal third quarter results. On the call, management will discuss the information contained in this announcement and answer related questions.
Conference Call Date: Thursday, July 29, 2004
Time: 9:00 a.m. Eastern
8:00 a.m. Central
7:00 a.m. Mountain
6:00 a.m. Pacific
Dial in #: (719) 867-0660
Passcode: 257560
An archive of this Webcast will be made available following the conference call, and can be accessed for at least the next twelve months on the section for Webcasts at investor.brooks.com under the title "Brooks Automation Fiscal 2004 Third Quarter Earnings Webcast". A telephone replay will also be made available following the call at the following number: (719) 457-0820 beginning @ 11:00 a.m. Thursday, July 29, 2004, and available 7 days. The passcode for the replay is 257560.
About Brooks Automation, Inc.
Brooks Automation (Nasdaq: BRKS - News) is a leading worldwide provider of automation solutions to the global semiconductor and related industries. The company's factory and tool automation hardware, software and professional services can manage every wafer, reticle and data movement in the fab, helping customers improve throughput and yield while reducing both cost and time to market. Brooks products and services are used in virtually every fab in the world as well as by many customers in industries outside of semiconductor manufacturing. For more information, visit brooks.com.
"Safe Harbor" Statement under Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934:
Some statements in this release are forward-looking statements made under Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These statements are neither promises nor guarantees but involve risks and uncertainties, both known and unknown, that could cause Brooks' financial and business results to differ materially from our expectations. They are based on the facts known to management at the time they are made. These forward-looking statements include statements regarding our revenue and profit and loss expectations, gross margin and operating margin expectations, our future business strategy and market opportunities, the quality and effectiveness of our manufacturing processes, continuing improvements in our ability to manage expenses and to meet customer expectations and demand, level of capital expenditures and bookings expectations in the semiconductor industry, demand for our products, and the outlook of the general economy and the semiconductor industry. Factors that could cause results to differ from our expectations include the following: our dependence on the cyclical semiconductor industry; the possibility of future downturns in market demand for electronics; the possibility that the upturn in market demand for electronics will not be sustained; our possible inability to meet increased demand for our products due to difficulties in obtaining components and materials from our suppliers in required quantities and of required quality; our ability to continue to effectively implement our flexible manufacturing model and our supply chain consolidation; the highly competitive nature and rapid technological change that characterizes the industries in which we compete; decisions by customers to accelerate delivery under or to cancel or defer orders that previously had been accepted; decisions by customers to reject the products we ship to them; the possibility that we may not be able to fulfill customer orders within a period of time acceptable to them; the fact that design-in wins do not necessarily translate to significant revenue; the timing and effectiveness of restructuring, cost-cutting and expense control measures; intense price competition; possible disputes concerning intellectual property; continuing uncertainties in global political and economic conditions, especially arising out of conflict in the Middle East; and other factors and other risks that we have described in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including but not limited to Brooks' Annual Report on Form 10-K and our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. As a result we can provide no assurance that our future results will not be materially different from those projected. Brooks expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any such statement to reflect any change in our expectations or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based. Brooks undertakes no obligation to update the information contained in this press release.
All trademarks contained herein are the property of their respective owners.
Contact:
Mark Chung
Director of Investor Relations
Brooks Automation, Inc.
Telephone: (978) 262-2459
mark.chung@brooks.com
BROOKS AUTOMATION, INC.
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
(in thousands)
June 30, September 30,
2004 2003
ASSETS
Cash, cash equivalents and marketable
securities $236,498 $129,480
Accounts receivable, net 101,988 69,374
Inventories 77,536 53,212
Other current assets 13,357 17,946
Total current assets 429,379 270,012
Property, plant and equipment, net 58,181 64,825
Long-term marketable securities 84,887 69,108
Intangible assets, net 77,263 79,550
Other assets 8,731 9,206
Total assets $658,441 $492,701
LIABILITIES, MINORITY INTERESTS AND
STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY
Current liabilities $162,772 $134,857
Convertible subordinated notes 175,000 175,000
Other long-term liabilities 16,239 19,851
Total liabilities 354,011 329,708
Minority interests 891 707
Stockholders' equity 303,539 162,286
Total liabilities,
minority interests and
stockholders' equity $658,441 $492,701
Cash, cash equivalents, short-
term and long-term marketable
securities
June 30, 2004 $321,385
March 31, 2004 $309,808
December 31, 2003 $312,680
September 30, 2003 $198,588
June 30, 2003 $209,646
BROOKS AUTOMATION, INC.
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS
(in thousands, except per share data)
Three months ended Nine months ended
June 30, June 30,
2004 2003 2004 2003
Revenues $155,234 $84,045 $375,764 $261,864
Cost of revenues 97,373 56,451 236,748 185,244
Gross profit 57,861 27,594 139,016 76,620
Operating expenses:
Research and development 16,832 18,103 49,534 57,531
Selling, general and
administrative 22,804 21,697 64,040 78,825
Amortization of acquired
intangible assets 890 940 2,772 3,928
Acquisition-related and
restructuring charges 884 20,742 3,052 46,566
41,410 61,482 119,398 186,850
Income (loss) from operations 16,451 (33,888) 19,618 (110,230)
Interest (income) expense, net 1,138 1,758 3,654 4,107
Other (income) expense, net 339 754 536 16,789
Income (loss) before income taxes
and minority interests 14,974 (36,400) 15,428 (131,126)
Income tax provision 2,711 16 5,553 4,884
Income (loss) before minority
interests 12,263 (36,416) 9,875 (136,010)
Minority interests in earnings of
consolidated subsidiary (65) 18 184 211
Net income (loss) $12,328 $(36,434) $9,691 $(136,221)
Income (loss) per share:
Basic $0.28 $(0.99) $0.23 $(3.72)
Diluted $0.27 $(0.99) $0.23 $(3.72)
Shares used in computing income
(loss) per share:
Basic 44,562 36,873 42,458 36,638
Diluted 44,983 36,873 43,011 36,638
newswire.ca
For further information
Mark Chung, Director of Investor Relations of Brooks Automation, Inc., +1-978-262-2459, mark.chung@brooks.com
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Source: Brooks Automation, Inc. |
