austriamicrosystems AG
Ad hoc-Service: Austria Mikro Systeme 1998 re
Ad hoc-announcement sent by DGAP.
The sender is solely responsible for the contents of this announcement.
——————————————————————————
Austria Mikro Systeme Group: Results for 1998
Highlights
Sales affected by continuing poor market conditions fell by 2.2%.
The Group showed a loss (after minorities) for the year of ATS
-75.9m
Sale of stake in Thesys had a negative impact on the AG result
At ATS 261.8m, expenditure on R&D was at its highest level ever
Sales development in line with the market
Group sales were ATS1,619.9m during 1998 – a fall of 2.2% on last
year. This fall tracked the movement of the market which saw a
decrease in sales volume year on year of 3.5%.
Balanced sales structure
There were small shifts in sales by segments. At 31% (1997: 28%)
the Industry segment for the first time had the highest turnover
in the Group. The Automotive segment also increased its share
slightly from 16% in 1997 to 19% in 1998. The Communications
segment contribution declined from 37% to 30%. There were no
significant changes in other areas.
The Group showed a loss (after minorities) for the year of ATS
75.9m (1997: profit ATS 34.5m). In addition to the slight decline
in sales revenue, the main factors which contributed to this poor
performance were the low capacity utilisation at Thesys,
increased expenditure on external services, high development
costs for new engineering projects and a rise in the expenditure
on research and development.
R&D expenditure in 1998 at a record level
1998 saw the highest investment during the companys history in
developing new processes and products with expenditure of
ATS261.8m. This represents an increase of 21.2% compared to 1997.
Austria Mikro Systeme International remains fully involved in
international research projects. This is demonstrated by its
successful involvement in European projects (ESPRIT) and
collaboration with leading semiconductor producers in the USA and
Canada. Austria Mikro Systeme International is focusing much of
its research on the development of integrated circuits based on
the silicon-germanium (SiGe) HBT-BiCMOS technology for high
frequency applications (e.g. for mobile phones, satellite
navigation and car security systems).
During the year a series of new products have been successfully
launched. New projects developed well along with engineering
sales forming a strong foundation for sales to develop during the
coming years. The total number of projects launched during the
year rose by 9% and engineering sales by 14%.
Sale of stake in Thesys affects AG result
AG showed a loss for the year of ATS -229.8m (1997: profit ATS
105.0m). The significant decline is due to extraordinary expenses
which relate to the sale of Austria Mikro Systemes stake in
Thesys. In the AG, the stake in Thesys was written down by ATS
235.3m.
Sound equity position and financial structure
Both the Group and AG retain a satisfactory level of equity
position and financial structure. The equity as at 31.12.1998
totalled ATS 1,789.5 for the Group and ATS 1,418.5m for AG, and
the equity ratio was 61.3% (62.7%).
Prospects: a break-even result in 1999
Following the negative market development last year, the leading
forecasting institutes predict average market growth of about 10%
in 1999. Growth should be stronger during the second half of the
year.
In line with these forecasts, Austria Mikro Systeme International
expects its business performance to improve from the second half
of 1999 onwards. On the basis of current forcasts Austria Mikro
Systeme International expects to break even in 1999.
Regarding the start of production in the deep submicron field, a
final decision on the project will be made once the financing
alternatives have been assessed.
Key data on 1998 results:
In Million ATS Change
1997 1998 in %
Sales revenue
Group 1,656.9 1,619.9 -2.2
AG 1,229.5 1,215.5 -1.1
Results from ordinary
activities
Group 2.0 -137.3
AG 139.7 21.5
Profit / (loss) for the
year (after minorities)
Group 34.5 -75.9
AG 105.0 – 229.8*
*incl. extraordinary
expenses of ATS 249.1 m
Expenditure on R&D 216.3 261.8 21.2
End of Message
Latest News
Latest Reports
No Reports found
Upcoming Events
No Events found
Webcasts
No Webcasts found