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SEZ Wins Multiple 300 mm Orders
VILLACH, Austria-January 24, 2001-Demonstrating its leadership in 300 mm process equipment, the SEZ Group (SWX: SEZN) announced that it has received multiple orders from three customers for its 300 mm Spin-Processing equipment. The orders, received in January of this year, are valued at nearly $15 million. The tools are scheduled for delivery in the second and third quarters of this year to semiconductor wafer manufacturers located in Europe and Taiwan.
"300 mm is a critical market for single wafer Spin-Process technology as production requirements become increasingly stringent," explained Michael Kucher, senior vice president and member of the corporate executive board of the SEZ Group. "SEZ is the first company to bring 300 mm tools to market for wafer surface preparation that meet the production challenges facing the industry. SEZ, in close cooperation with its customers, have aggressively sought to develop applications that meet their individual needs."
SEZ's 300 mm Spin-Processors perform a variety of wafer surface preparation applications on both the frontside and backside of wafers. Applications include backside film removal prior to advanced lithography operations and silicon stress relief for die strength enhancement in thinning operations. Additional processes offered include backside contamination removal of copper and metallic, organic and other particles, frontside film thinning for critical operations such as 50-angstrom gates, bevel cleaning and post-etch residue (polymer) removal.
For the period ending November 30, 2000 SEZ posted a book to bill ratio of 1.43. The company's order backlog stood at CHF 126 million (USD 73 million), up from CHF 69 million (USD 44 million), for the first 11 months of 1999. SEZ's order intake remained strong at CHF 249 million (USD 147 million) versus CHF 127 million (USD 85 million) for the same period of time the previous year. Net sales from January to November of 2000 totaled CHF 174 million (USD 103 million) in comparison to CHF 57 million (USD 38 million) in the same period of 1999.
SEZ remains confident that it will meet its expectations for business year 2000 of CHF 190 million (USD 114 million), as updated in October 2000. The expected EBIT-margin is around 23 percent and the net profit margin is around 16 percent. Additionally, the company expects to meet its 2001 forecast of CHF 260 million (USD 156 million). SEZ indicated that it will release its key figures from 2000 on March 14, 2001. The presentation of financial results will take place on April 18, 2001 and the annual shareholders meeting will be held on May 10, 2001.
About SEZ
The SEZ Group is a leading supplier of spin-processing equipment to the global semiconductor manufacturing industry. The company's breakthrough proprietary Spin-Processor technology forms the basis of a broad portfolio of backside and frontside wafer surface conditioning products for semiconductor chipmakers worldwide. SEZ maintains development, manufacturing, sales, marketing and service operations in Europe, Asia and North America. Registered in Zurich, Switzerland, SEZ Holding AG is listed on the Swiss Exchange under the symbol (SWX: SEZN).
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