ots Ad hoc-Service: Infineon Technologies AG <DE0006231004>Infineon Announces 2nd-Quarter and 1st-Half-Year Results 2001 (ended March 31
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Infineon Announces 2nd-Quarter and 1st-Half-Year Results 2001 (ended March 31)
S E C O N D Q U A R T E R (January 1 to March 31, 2001)
The semiconductor manufacturing group Infineon Technologies today announced results for its second quarter in fiscal year 2001 (ending March 31, 2001) with revenues reaching Euro 1.65 billion, increasing 8 percent year-on-year. This growth was driven by strong demand in Infineon's Wireline Communications, Security & Chip Card ICs and Automotive & Industrial business groups. Infineon maintained the revenue levels of the previous quarter despite the currently volatile market environment. Infineon achieved a gross margin of 28 percent, down from 40 percent in the first quarter of this year and 39 percent in the second quarter of fiscal year 2000.
EBIT (earnings before interest and tax) decreased to Euro 10 million, down Euro 243 million year-on-year and down Euro 436 million from the previous quarter of this year, which included an one-time pre-tax gain of Euro 202 million. Infineon's lower earnings were mainly due to the continued fall of prices for memory products and the slowdown in the demand for mobile handsets.
Net income in the second quarter was Euro 23 million, down Euro 123 million from the same quarter of the last fiscal year and Euro 257 million from the previous quarter of this year. Earnings per share (basic and diluted) for the second quarter was Euro 0.04 as compared with Euro 0.24 in the second quarter of the last fiscal year and Euro 0.45 in the previous quarter of this year.
Issuer's information/explanation remarks concerning this ad hoc announcement:
F I R S T H A L F Y E A R (October 1, 2000, to March 31, 2001)
Total revenues for the first half of fiscal year 2001 amounted to Euro 3.31 billion, up 8 percent from Euro 3.07 billion in the same period last year. EBIT for the first half of this year reached Euro 456 million, which included a one- time pre-tax gain of Euro 202 million from the sale of the Image and Video business, down Euro 41 million from the first half of last year. Net income was Euro 303 million, up Euro 24 million from the same period last year.
"Infineon maintained strong margins in its non-DRAM businesses -- Wireline Communications, Security & Chip Card ICs and Automotive & Industrial -- despite a difficult market environment due to continued demand in these segments, further productivity gains and new high-margin products", commented Dr. Ulrich Schumacher, President and CEO of Infineon Technologies AG. "Furthermore, our strategy to optimize our product portfolio by building on these businesses is showing positive results as they help to counterbalance the current weakness in the memory market."
O U T L O O K F O R 2 0 0 1 The current market situation in the semiconductor industry remains volatile with little visibility. Over the past several months, many leading industry market analysts have significantly lowered their growth expectations for the semiconductor industry as a whole in 2001 and today most predict negative growth for 2001.
Infineon's outlook varies for its different business segments. The company remains confident about strong year-on-year revenue growth and positive EBIT margin development in its Wireline Communications, Security & Chip Card ICs and Automotive & Industrial businesses. Growth drivers in Wireline Communications will be the traditional telecom infrastructure markets and the continuing demand for Infineon's high-speed communication and fiber optical solutions. The Security & Chip Card ICs business is driven by strong demand for advanced security controllers and MultiMediaCards. In the Automotive & Industrial business, the outlook remains positive, as it is driven by strong demand for Infineon's advanced car electronics and industrial power solutions. For these segments Infineon expect a double-digit revenue increase year-on-year and a significantly improved EBIT.
Visibility on the development in the mobile communications market remains low. At the moment there are no clear signs of an early recovery in demand for mobile phones. Therefore, Infineon cannot exclude a weaker performance of its Wireless Communications group in the third quarter. Nevertheless, some of Infineon's customers continue to report that they expect a positive development in the second half of the calendar year.
Following a very difficult second quarter with further declining prices for memory products there are initial indications that demand for DRAMs is increasing while inventory levels at PC manufacturers have been further reduced. Prices for DRAMs have stabilized at a low level in March and the possibility for a positive price development is increasing. It is still too early to identify clear signs that this trend will turn into a sustainable development. However, Infineon restates its assumption about a positive DRAM market development in the second half of the calendar year as worldwide capacity for memory chips is not expected to increase significantly.
"Infineon has taken steps to address the current volatile semiconductor market environment. Reflecting our reduced growth expectations for the full year, we have lowered capital expenditures for fiscal year 2001 from an originally planned Euro 2.8 billion to approximately Euro 2.3 billion," concluded Dr. Schumacher.
F U R T H E R I N F O R M A T I O N will be available on our web site http://www.infineon.com/boerse/english/quartal.htm from today (Tuesday, April 24) circa at 08:00 AM (GMT) / 03:00 AM (Eastern). The Management Board of Infineon Technologies will conduct a telephone conference with analysts on the same day at 03:00 PM (GMT) / 10:00 AM (Eastern), to discuss operating performance for the recent months. An audio webcast of the telephone conference will be available both live and for download on Infineon's web site at http://www.infineon.com/boerse/english/webcast-live.htm.
T H I S D I S C U S S I O N includes forward-looking statements about our future business. These forward-looking statements include statements relating to future developments of the world semiconductor market, especially the market for memory products, Infineon's future growth, the benefits of research and development alliances and activities, our planned levels of future investment in the expansion and modernization of our production capacity, the introduction of new technology at our facilities, the transitioning of our production processes to smaller structures, cost savings related to such transitioning and other initiatives, our successful development of technology based on industry standards, our ability to offer commercially viable products based on our technology, our ability to achieve our growth targets, and the continuation of current developments in our financial results in the 2001 financial year. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of uncertainties, including trends in demand and prices for semiconductors generally and for our products in particular, the success of our development efforts, both alone and with our partners, the success of our efforts to introduce new production processes at our facilities and the actions of our competitors, the availability of funds for planned expansion efforts, as well as the other factors mentioned herein. As a result, our actual results could differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements.
WKN: 623100; Index: DAX Listed: Amtlicher Handel in Frankfurt; Freiverkehr in Berlin, Bremen, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Hannover, München, Stuttgart
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