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SEZ Reports Excellent First Six Months of 2001:
- Company Adjusts Sales Forecast to Market Situation
The SEZ Group has experienced an excellent first half of 2001. During the first six months of 2001, the SEZ Group increased its consolidated net sales by 94 percent over the first half of last year, from CHF 77.1 million to CHF 149.8 million. In the same period, operating income (EBIT) went up by 124 percent to CHF 37.7 million from CHF 16.8 million in 2000 and as of June 30, 2001, the EBIT-margin had increased to 25.2 percent. Over the first six months, net profit nearly doubled to CHF 23.5 million from CHF 12.1 million the previous year and represented 15.7 percent of net sales.
At the end of July, net sales for the SEZ Group stood at CHF 193.9 million and the company’s order backlog stood at CHF 70.8 million. In light of the current situation in the international market for semiconductor equipment, however, SEZ’s management has lowered its sales forecast to CHF 275 million (from CHF 290 million) for the business year 2001. This revised forecast represents a 41 percent increase in net sales over last year.
Contrary to the general market trend, demand for SEZ semiconductor production equipment has been undiminished during the first seven months of the business year 2001. By the end of July, SEZ had received orders worth CHF 125.7 million versus CHF 147.5 million in 2000 and shipped systems worth CHF 193.9 million, up from CHF 96.4 million the previous year. The book-to-bill ratio for the period January to July stood at 0.65.
Although as of July 31, 2001 SEZ’s order backlog remained solid at CHF 70.9 million compared to CHF 105.2 million in 2000, SEZ’s management has reduced its sales forecast for the current year by 5 percent to CHF 275 million because of the current market situation. The company’s expected EBIT margin remains unchanged at 23 percent, while the net profit margin is slightly reduced to 14 percent (from 15 percent).
With an increase of net sales by 41 percent in comparison to the business year 2000, SEZ will prominently strengthen its market position in the current market for semiconductor manufacturing equipment, which has declined strongly in 2001. With this increase and its solid financial situation, SEZ is excellently positioned to profit from the expected recovery of the international semiconductor market in 2002.
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