Semi-related news. Some has been posted.
Semiconductor equip industry Feb book-to-bill down
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., March 18 (Reuters) - The North American semiconductor equipment industry posted a book-to-bill ratio of 0.92 for February, down from a revised 0.93 in January and a final 0.99 in December, industry group Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI) said Wednesday.
The SEMI book-to-bill is a ratio of three-month moving average bookings to three-month moving average shipments. A book-to-bill of 0.92 means $92 in orders were received for each $100 worth of products shipped.
"The Asia-Pacific region accounts for 31 percent of the global market for equipment, and consequently it's no surprise that events in the Asian financial markets may be impacting the equipment industry," said Dick Greene, an analyst with SEMI, in a statement.
Three-month average shipments decreased in February to $1.4 billion, 4 percent below the January level but up 38 percent from February 1997, SEMI said.
Three-month average bookings decreased in February to $1.3 billion, down 5 percent from January but up 17 percent from February 1997.
09:04 03-18-98
Copyright 1998 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
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North American Semiconductor Equipment Industry Posts February 1998 Book-to-Bill Ratio of 0.92
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 18, 1998--The North
American semiconductor equipment industry posted a book-to-bill ratio
of 0.92 for February 1998, it was reported by Semiconductor Equipment
and Materials International (SEMI). A book-to-bill of 0.92 means $92
in orders were received for each $100 worth of products shipped.
Three-month average shipments decreased in February 1998 to $1.4
billion. The figure is four percent below the January 1998 level, yet
it is 38 percent above the February 1997 level. Three-month average
bookings also decreased in February 1998 to $1.3 billion. The bookings
figure is five percent below the January 1998 level, yet is 17 percent
above the February 1997 level.
"The Asia-Pacific region accounts for 31 percent of the global
market for equipment and consequently it's no surprise that events in
the Asian financial markets may be impacting the equipment industry,"
said Dick Greene, principal analyst with SEMI. "Of course suppliers
are closely monitoring economic developments in that region and
looking for the situation to stabilize."
The SEMI book-to-bill is a ratio of three-month moving average
bookings to three-month moving average shipments. Shipments and
bookings figures are in millions of U.S. dollars.
Month Shipments Bookings Book-to-Bill
September 97 1,458.2 1,538.4 1.05
October 97 1,549.8 1,583.7 1.02
November 97 1,634.1 1,633.1 1.00
December 97 (final) 1,559.3 1,550.3 0.99
January 98 (revised) 1,429.5 1,328.7 0.93
February 98 (prelim.) 1,373.3 1,256.6 0.92
The data contained in this release was compiled by the
independent public accounting firm of Arthur Andersen LLP, without
audit, from data submitted directly by the participants. Arthur
Andersen LLP can assume no responsibility for the accuracy of the
underlying data.
The data are contained in a monthly Express Report published by
SEMI that tracks shipments and orders for equipment used to
manufacture semiconductor devices, not shipments and orders of the
chips themselves.
Based in Mountain View, Calif., SEMI is an international trade
association serving more than 2,100 companies participating in the $65
billion semiconductor and flat panel display equipment and materials
markets. SEMI maintains offices in Austin, Beijing, Boston, Brussels,
Hsinchu, Moscow, Seoul, Singapore, Tokyo and Washington, D.C. Visit
SEMI OnLine at www.semi.org.
CONTACT:
SEMI
Jonathan Davis, 650/940.6937
jdavis@semi.org
or
Ruder-Finn, Inc.
Renee Martin, 212/593.5859
martinr@ruderfinn.com
KEYWORD: CALIFORNIA TEXAS DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA MASSACHUSETTS
BW0026 MAR 18,1998
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Corporate capital spending to decline in FY '98: bank
.c Kyodo News Service
TOKYO, March 18 (Kyodo) - Major Japanese companies are planning for fiscal 1998 capital investments 4% smaller than an estimate for fiscal 1997, the first year-on-year drop in four years if realized, according to a survey released Wednesday by the Japan Development Bank.
The decline indicated in the survey conducted in February stems from the economic slowdown and financial institutions' moves to curb lending, the government-affiliated bank said.
Amid sluggish consumer spending, automakers and telecommunications carriers, which in the past few years have lifted overall private-sector capital spending, are getting increasingly cautious about investments in plant and equipment, according to the bank.
''A major increase cannot be expected in the months ahead, despite economic stimulus measures,'' said an official at the bank.
The survey covered 3,227 companies nationwide with at least 1 billion yen in capital, of which 84% replied.
By category, manufacturers are planning 6.7% less, while nonmanufacturers are budgeting for 2.7% less.
Many telecommunications carriers and paper and pulp companies have built up sufficient capacity to meet demand for the time being, while automakers are keeping investments at last year's level, the bank said.
Investments by automakers showed double-digit growth in the past three years, it said.
Semiconductors, retailers, power companies and oil refinery firms are planning less investment than the preceding year, amid faltering consumer spending, the bank also said.
For fiscal 1997, which ends March 31, overall capital expenditures are projected to rise 2.8% for the third consecutive year of increase, but this is far slower than the previous year's 6% increase, the bank said.
Investments by manufacturers are estimated to grow 7.5%, while those by nonmanufacturers are forecast to rise 0.7%, it said.
AP-NY-03-18-98 0635EST
Copyright 1998 The Kyodo News Service.
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CORRECTED-Japan 98 electronics output seen down
In TOKYO story headlined "Japan'98 electronics output growth seen below 3.5%" please read name in second paragraph as...Fumio Sato...instead of...Kunio Sato (correcting name).
A corrected story follows.
TOKYO, March 18 (Reuters) - The growth rate in Japan's domestic output of electronics products in 1998 is likely to be below a forecast 3.5 percent due to sluggish demand for consumer electronics, an industry group said on Wednesday.
"Business conditions have further worsened since the end of last year," Fumio (corrects) Sato, chairman of the Electronics Industries Association of Japan (EIAJ), told a regular news conference.
He said slow business in mobile communications equipment, minidiscs and personal computers had been negatively affecting the semiconductor sector.
Sato expressed hope that planned government economic stimulus measures would focus on investment in the information technology sector.
01:47 03-18-98
Copyright 1998 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
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South Korea GDP growth slows as spending plunges
SEOUL, South Korea (Reuters) - Sluggish private and corporate spending slowed growth of South Korea's gross domestic product to 5.5 percent in 1997 from 7.1 percent in 1996, the Bank of Korea said Tuesday.
''Despite strong export growth, the GDP growth slowed due to a sharp fall in capital investment and private consumption,'' the Bank said.
It said the country's GDP growth in the quarter to December 1997 was cut nearly in half to 3.9 percent from 7.4 percent during the comparable period of 1996.
During the three-month period, exports, led by semiconductors, petrochemical products and garments, grew 19.9 percent, but capital investment contracted by 28.2 percent.
Capital investment and private consumption together contribute between 60 percent and 70 percent to gross domestic product, analysts said.
For all of 1997, capital investment fell 11.3 percent and private consumption grew 3.1 percent, compared with growth of 8.3 percent and 6.8 percent, respectively, in 1996.
The news hardly made any impact on the local financial markets, analysts said, because investors were well aware that the real hardship has not yet begun.
Stock prices fell sharply but brokers said the drop was mostly because foreign investors, who have been the driving force on the local stock market, turned to net sellers.
The composite stock price index closed 13.37 points, or 2.53 percent, lower at 515.51.
The won held firmer against the U.S. dollar throughout the day, trading at between 1,446 and 1,465 to the greenback against Monday's close of 1,460.
The International Monetary Fund projected this year's GDP growth at ''1 percent or less'' in its recent review of the progress in the South Korea's economic restructuring efforts.
REUTERS@
11:11 03-17-98
Copyright 1998 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
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