Highlights:
· Fourth quarter 2010 net sales of EUR 352 million up 1% quarter on quarter and up 74% year on year.
· Gross Margin in Q4 stable at 46% compared to Q3 and up against a 40% gross margin in the fourth quarter of 2009. Front-end business gross margin increased from 39.8% in Q3 to 40.7% in Q4.
· Result from operations increased from EUR 101 million in Q3 to EUR 103 million in Q4. The fourth quarter of 2009 showed a profit of EUR 32 million;
° The Front-end segment increased to a profit of EUR 13 million which includes EUR 2 million restructuring charges. Q4 2009 showed a loss of EUR 13 million including EUR 5 million restructuring charges;
° The Back-end segment profit decreased from EUR 97 million to EUR 90 million quarter on quarter mainly caused by currency translation differences while increasing EUR 45 million year on year.
· In the fourth quarter of 2010 we have finalized our PERFORM! Front-end restructuring program, in a shorter time period and against substantially lower costs than earlier indicated.
· Fourth quarter 2010 net earnings were EUR 25 million compared to net earnings of EUR 34 million for the third quarter of 2010 and a net loss of EUR 12 million for the fourth quarter of 2009. Both 2010 quarters were significantly impacted by the revaluation of the conversion option. Excluding this revaluation net earnings improved from EUR 43 million in the third quarter to EUR 46 million in the fourth quarter.
· Book to bill in the fourth quarter was 0.7. In the Front-end segment the book to bill was 1.2, in the Back-end segment the book to bill was 0.5. The backlog decreased from EUR 587 million at the end of the third quarter, to EUR 500 million at the end of the fourth quarter.
· The Board proposes to the Annual General Shareholders Meeting to declare a dividend of Euro 0.40 per share.
Comment
Commenting on the results, Chuck del Prado, President and Chief Executive Officer of ASM International, said, "The fourth quarter showed further improvements in the Front-end operations, where our results from operations (excluding restructuring) are now into the mid-tens. Moreover we saw, besides a sales increase of 35%, a further strengthening of our order book. The Back-end segment showed with a 36% result from operations as a percentage of sales again a solid performance.
As part of our financing policy we aim to pay a sustainable annual dividend. We will propose to the forthcoming AGM to declare a dividend of Euro 0.40 per share.
Outlook
Based upon the current backlog and our current visibility:
· For our Front-end operations we expect single digit sales growth in the first quarter of 2011 at constant FX-rates as compared to the fourth quarter of 2010.
· For our Back-end operations (including SMT equipment, the former SEAS) we expect a double digit sales growth in the first quarter at constant FX-rates as compared to the fourth quarter of 2010.
Unaudited Accounts
ASM International N.V. is currently finalizing the financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2010. We expect to be able to file our Form 20-F with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission within four weeks and to publish our Statutory Annual Accounts for the year 2010 in early April 2011. The consolidated balance sheets of ASM International N.V. as of December 31, 2010, the related statements of operations and cash flows for the year ended December 31, 2010 and all quarterly information as presented in this press release have not been audited by Deloitte Accountants B.V.