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Technology Stocks : FSII - The Worst is Over? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Donald Wennerstrom who wrote (1808)	3/5/1998 7:33:00 AM
From: xamir	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 2754

BAD NEWS FOR FSII FSI International, Inc. Expects Lower Than Anticipated Second Quarter Fiscal 1998 Financial Results Business Wire - March 05, 1998 07:16 %FSI-INTERNATIONAL FSII %MINNESOTA %COMED %COMPUTERS %ELECTRONICS V%BW P%BW Jump to first matched term MINNEAPOLIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 5, 1998--FSI International, Inc. (Nasdaq: FSII), a manufacturer of capital equipment for the microelectronics industry, today announced that it expects financial results for the second quarter ended Feb. 28, 1998, to be below expectations. The Company now anticipates sales of $54 to $59 million and a net loss for the quarter. In the same period of fiscal year 1997, the Company reported sales of $60.2 million and net income of $1.9 million or $.08 per share. FSI attributed the sales shortfall for the second quarter to lower than anticipated sales for all products, due to the softness in the microelectronics equipment market. The Company experienced an order delay from a major Korean semiconductor manufacturer, which had been expected to ship during the quarter. In addition, a U.S. disk drive manufacturer requested a delay in the shipment of two POLARIS(R) Microlithography Clusters. Earnings were impacted by the lower than anticipated sales and a one-time charge of approximately $2 million related to organizational changes announced in December 1997 and the settlement of a patent infringement lawsuit. The Company recently settled a patent infringement lawsuit relating to its EXCALIBUR(R) Systems which had been brought by Purusar Corporation in October 1995. In exchange for a one-time lump-sum payment, Purusar has dismissed the lawsuit and released FSI and its customers from any past or future claims of infringement relating to the patent at issue. FSI will not be paying any royalties to Purusar. The Company expects to report second quarter fiscal 1998 results on March 24, 1998, after the close of the market. "Economic conditions in Asia and overall softness in microelectronics capital spending have made it more difficult to gauge near-term business activity. Customers are very cautious, are delaying capital spending and, in some cases, are contracting out device manufacturing instead of adding capacity to their own operations," said Joel Elftmann, chairman and chief executive officer of FSI. "Given the current softness in the industry and the uncertainty in the marketplace, we now believe that fiscal 1998 sales could be at or below 1997 sales of $252 million.(a) We are taking steps to control expenses such as capital spending reductions and the elimination of a significant number of open positions," said Elftmann.(a) "We are now going through our regularly scheduled business review process, which could result in other cost-control measures being implemented."(a) "Despite the current softness, we will continue to invest in 0.25 and 0.18 micron process technology and 300-mm product development programs to participate in the future expected growth of the microelectronics equipment industry.(a) We are well positioned with our current product portfolio," concluded Elftmann.(a) ABOUT FSI: FSI International, Inc. is a leading global supplier of processing equipment used at key production steps to manufacture microelectronics, including semiconductor devices, thin film heads and multichip modules. The Company develops, manufactures, markets and supports products used in the technology areas of microlithography, surface conditioning and chemical management. FSI International's customers include microelectronics manufacturers located throughout North America, Europe, Japan and the Asia-Pacific region.