Brooks Automation Reports Results for Fiscal 2004 Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year Ended September 30, 2004
Thursday November 4, 8:04 am ET
Company Exceeds First Call Consensus For Quarter and Achieves Annual Record For Revenues, Bookings And Income
CHELMSFORD, Mass., Nov. 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Brooks Automation, Inc. (Nasdaq: BRKS - News), which develops and produces hardware, software and systems that enable manufacturing efficiencies for the semiconductor and other complex manufacturing industries, today announced results for its fiscal 2004 fourth quarter and fiscal year ended September 30, 2004.
Revenues for the fourth quarter 2004 were $164.0 million, a sequential increase of 5.7 percent from the preceding quarter revenues of $155.2 million, and a 100.7 percent increase from the fourth quarter 2003 revenues of $81.7 million. Bookings for the quarter were $149.3 million, a sequential decrease of 4.1 percent from the preceding quarter bookings of $155.7 million, and an increase of 79.7 percent over the fourth quarter 2003 bookings of $83.1 million.
Net income for the fourth quarter 2004 on a GAAP ("Generally Accepted Accounting Principles") basis was $8.0 million, which included a charge of $2.3 million for restructuring actions taken during the quarter and $8.3 million for amortization expense. The amortization expense includes a $7.4 million charge for the impairment of goodwill of the Specialty Equipment and Life Sciences (SELS) division of Brooks. GAAP earnings per share were $0.18 per diluted share, which includes $0.24 per share for the above mentioned charges, substantially better than Thomson First Call consensus estimates of $0.31 per share which excludes amortization and restructuring charges. The fourth quarter 2004 GAAP net income of $8.0 million, or $0.18 per diluted share compares to third quarter 2004 GAAP net income of $12.3 million, or $0.27 per diluted share, and a net loss in the fourth quarter 2003 of $49.5 million or $1.33 loss per share.
Edward C. Grady, president and chief executive officer of Brooks Automation, said, "Fiscal year 2004 was a record-setting year for Brooks as we delivered revenues, bookings and net income that exceeded previous peak levels. Revenues for fiscal year 2004 were $539.8 million, which is a year- over-year growth of 57.1 percent, and exceeds the previous peak revenues achieved in fiscal year 2001. Net income for fiscal year 2004 was $17.7 million, or $0.41 per diluted share on a GAAP basis. Note that the GAAP EPS included charges of $18.9 million, or $0.43 per diluted share for amortization expenses, restructuring charges and other acquisition-related charges. The challenge for Brooks during the steep and extended industry downturn the past few years was to restructure and consolidate the Company and align the business to achieve profitability. Brooks accomplished these actions just in time to meet the sharp industry ramp that started a year ago last September, and our focus on operational excellence especially in the hardware business allowed us to perform exceptionally well as the semiconductor industry raced to invest in more capacity. Our software business, which we have reorganized into a division we call Brooks Software, experienced strong growth in the year fueled primarily by its core semiconductor and flat panel display businesses. We are also directing more of our efforts on addressing other industries with our Real Time Enterprise software. I'm pleased with the year's results and the efforts of all our employees. I believe that Brooks is positioned well for the future with our current offerings, while our aggressive new product development program is focused on enhancing our market share with customers as they begin the design process for the 45nm generation technology. Let me also add that I am honored to transition into the position of CEO at Brooks from Bob Therrien, one of the industry's visionaries, who at the end of September retired as CEO while remaining on as chairman of the board of directors. Bob has demonstrated a remarkable ability through his excellent judgment and instincts in turning a small robotics company into a half-billion dollar global enterprise and the world's largest maker of automation for the semiconductor industry. I look forward to working together with Bob and the rest of the team to continue leveraging the successful business model that has been created at Brooks."
Brooks Automation chairman Robert J. Therrien said, "I want to thank the team at Brooks on the outstanding performance of the company in fiscal year 2004. The company is in good hands with its current management team and its talented, dedicated employees. The balance sheet is strong, the company is generating positive cash flow and I believe we are continuing to gain overall market share. I also want to thank the shareholders and customers who have supported us over the years and who I hope will continue to work with Brooks to grow profitably together in the coming years. I believe that greater years lie ahead for Brooks and our shareholders can be sure that I will remain dedicated to our continued success."
Ed Grady commented on Brooks' business outlook. "In September we started to experience a slowdown in the semiconductor industry, similar to many other companies serving this market, and therefore we are taking a conservative view of the business environment going forward. As a result, we expect our fiscal Q1 revenues to be in a range of $120 to $130 million. We will likely take some restructuring actions in Q1 to reduce our breakeven level as we stay focused on profitability. Net income for Q1 at the mid-point of the revenue range is projected to be breakeven on a GAAP basis, which includes anticipated charges of approximately $3 to 4 million for restructuring and amortization of acquired intangibles. The semiconductor industry presents us with a challenging business environment as we enter the new fiscal year, but we at Brooks are committed to our goals for managing profitable long-term growth, a strong balance sheet and gaining market share."
Q4 Fiscal 2004 Highlights
-- Announced the completion of the transition of the position of chief
executive officer to Edward C. Grady, effective October 1, 2004. As
previously announced on June 2, 2004 Robert J. Therrien will remain
as chairman of the Board of Directors following his retirement as CEO
on September 30, 2004.
-- Announced the launch of Brooks Software, a new division that targets
the emerging market for real-time enterprise software. Brooks has
worked closely with its customers in its core semiconductor business
as well as the aerospace and defense, automotive, high tech, medical
devices and markets to enhance and extend the functionality of its
suite of real-time manufacturing applications, enabling enterprises
to create an end-to-end real-time environment that reaches from the
factory floor to enterprise-level business systems.
-- Captured 5 new design-in wins at OEM customers in Q4, and 41 total
design-in wins during fiscal year 2004.
-- Won a key design-in win and multi-million dollar booking from North
American OEM customer for the Fab Express (FX) atmospheric system to
be used on the front end of its wafer defect inspection system,
replacing incumbent North American competitor.
-- FixLoad 6M, Brooks' industry-leading 300mm load port module, achieved
milestone of more than 2 million mean cycles before failure (MCFB)
per the SEMI E10 standard, approximately 4-fold better than the
typical industry reliability goal of 500k cycles.
-- Received multi-million dollar expansion order for OneFab AMHS from
existing 300mm customer.
-- Received multi-million dollar order for lithography automation
hardware systems from major Korean DRAM manufacturer.
-- Software revenues grew more than 45% sequentially in Q4 over Q3.
-- Awarded a multi-million dollar contract by Powerchip Semiconductor
Corporation, a leading memory chip manufacturer in Taiwan, for large-
scale deployment of Brooks' fault detection solution at its new 300mm
factories.
-- Received major orders for Real Time Dispatcher (RTD) software from
two 300mm fabs, one a new logic fab in Europe that included the
Activity Manager software and one from a Japanese fab that included
Xsite software used in computerized maintenance management for
equipment.
-- Booked two more Manufacturing Execution System (MES) software orders
from new 300mm fab in China and from a European customer.
Conference Call and Webcast
Brooks Automation will host a conference call on Thursday, November 4, 2004 at 9:00 AM Eastern to review its fiscal fourth quarter results. On the call, management will discuss the information contained in this announcement and answer related questions.
Conference Call Date: Thursday, November 4, 2004
Time: 9:00 a.m. Eastern
Dial in #: (719) 457-2618
Passcode: 909368
A live Webcast of this conference call will be available in the investor relations section of the Brooks Automation web site, investor.brooks.com under the title "Brooks Automation Fiscal 2004 Fourth Quarter Earnings Webcast".
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 Fourth 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, November 4, 2004, and available 7 days. The passcode for the replay is 909368.
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 bookings, revenues, and profit and loss expectations, gross margin and operating margin expectations, our future business strategy and market opportunities, level of capital expenditures and bookings expectations in the semiconductor industry, demand for our products, and the outlook of 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; 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)
September 30, September 30,
2004 2003
ASSETS
Cash, cash equivalents and marketable
securities $255,367 $129,480
Accounts receivable, net 124,004 69,374
Inventories 71,891 53,212
Other current assets 9,873 17,946
Total current assets 461,135 270,012
Property, plant and equipment, net 58,810 64,825
Long-term marketable securities 73,743 69,108
Intangible assets, net 68,963 79,550
Other assets 8,388 9,206
Total assets $671,039 $492,701
LIABILITIES, MINORITY INTERESTS AND
STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY
Current liabilities $166,998 $134,857
Convertible subordinated notes 175,000 175,000
Other long-term liabilities 15,228 19,851
Total liabilities 357,226 329,708
Minority interests 918 707
Stockholders' equity 312,895 162,286
Total liabilities,
minority interests and
stockholders' equity $671,039 $492,701
Cash, cash equivalents, short-
term and long-term marketable
securities
September 30, 2004 $329,110
June 30, 2004 $321,385
March 31, 2004 $309,808
December 31, 2003 $312,680
September 30, 2003 $198,588
BROOKS AUTOMATION, INC.
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS
(in thousands, except per share data)
Three months ended Twelve months ended
September 30, September 30,
2004 2003 2004 2003
Revenues $164,005 $81,746 $539,769 $343,610
Cost of revenues 98,697 54,700 335,445 239,944
Gross profit 65,308 27,046 204,324 103,666
Operating expenses:
Research and development 17,599 15,363 67,133 72,894
Selling, general and
administrative 25,307 19,483 89,347 98,308
Amortization of acquired
intangible assets and asset
impairment charges 8,311 40,677 11,083 44,605
Acquisition-related and
restructuring charges 2,305 (309) 5,357 46,257
53,522 75,214 172,920 262,064
Income (loss) from operations 11,786 (48,168) 31,404 (158,398)
Interest (income) expense, net 854 1,868 4,508 5,975
Other (income) expense, net 375 (522) 911 16,267
Income (loss) before income
taxes and minority interests 10,557 (49,514) 25,985 (180,640)
Income tax provision 2,500 22 8,053 4,906
Income (loss) before minority
interests 8,057 (49,536) 17,932 (185,546)
Minority interests in earnings
of consolidated subsidiary 27 3 211 214
Net income (loss) $8,030 $(49,539) $17,721 $(185,760)
Income (loss) per share:
Basic $0.18 $(1.33) $0.41 $(5.05)
Diluted $0.18 $(1.33) $0.41 $(5.05)
Shares used in computing income
(loss) per share:
Basic 44,642 37,180 43,006 36,774
Diluted 44,837 37,180 43,469 36,774
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Source: Brooks Automation, Inc. |
