2008-2009 Q1 sales total 60.2 million Euros
• 13.9% unfavourable exchange movement explains total sales decrease of 12.0% year on year
• Wafer sales slightly down by 1.7% year on year at constant exchange
• Guidance unchanged for the full year
Bernin, France, 21st July 2008 – Soitec, leader in SOI (Silicon on Insulator) wafer material today announced total first quarter sales of 60.2 million Euros. As reported this is below the prior year by 12%, however the exchange rate has moved unfavourably by 13.9% over the same period.
At constant exchange, wafer sales were down by 1.7% year on year and down by 3.2% on a sequential basis, which is in line with guidance.
| Sales (Euros millions) | 2008-2009 | 2007-2008 | Change |
| First Quarter | 60.2 | 68.5 | -12.0% |
Soitec’s fiscal year runs from April 1 to March 31
Stabilized overall demand and unfavourable exchange
Wafer sales in total were 56.6 million Euros for the quarter. As indicated this represents a year on year reduction at constant exchange of 1.7% (14.2% in Euros). Analysed by diameter, it should be noted that 300mm wafers provided good growth of 18.1% (1.7% in Euros) but this strong performance is offset by other wafer sizes that are down by 37.9% (43.3% in Euros) as a result of the switch by a major client from 200mm to 300mm as from August 2007.
Scenario reiterated for the financial year 2008-2009
Latest expectations for the second quarter are stable wafer sales sequentially at constant exchange. Based on a rebound in demand, which continues to depend upon lifting the uncertainty concerning the ramp up and success of new product launches into key markets, company guidance for flat sales at constant exchange remains unchanged for the full financial year 2008-2009. The focus is on improving operational performance and reducing costs, without jeopardizing the ability to take full advantage of a future recovery. Meanwhile, despite this scenario of flat sales the objective of improving operating performance is maintained, on a like for like basis i.e. before the cost impact associated with the Singapore fab, estimated to be of the order of 30 million US Dollars for the year.
Recent development
The Annual General Meeting of Shareholders held on 2nd July 2008 approved all resolutions presented by the Board.
Agenda
Q2 sales for 2008-2009 will be published on 20th October 2008 after the close of the Paris Stock Exchange.
Picogiga International, Tracit Technologies and royalties each provided good year on year growth with sales of 3.6 million Euros in total for the quarter.
About Soitec:
Soitec is the world's leading supplier of engineered substrates for advanced microelectronics. The Group produces a wide range of advanced materials, especially silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafers based on its Smart Cut™ technology—the first high-volume application for this proprietary technology. SOI is currently seen as the platform of the future, paving the way to higher-performance, faster, and more economical chips.
Soitec currently produces over 80% of the SOI wafers. Headquartered at Bernin in France, with two high-volume production units on site, Soitec also has offices in the US, Japan, and Taiwan, and a new production site is in the process of customers qualification in Singapore.
The Group has two other divisions: Picogiga International at Les Ulis in Paris and Tracit Technologies in Bernin. Picogiga is specialized in the development and manufacture of engineered substrates, from group III-V epitaxial semiconductor wafers and gallium nitride (GaN) wafers to composite substrates for the manufacture of high-frequency electronics and optoelectronic devices. Tracit is specialized in thin-film layer transfer technologies, used to manufacture engineered substrates for power ICs and microsystems, as well as generic circuit transfer technology for applications such as image sensors and 3D integration. Shares for the Soitec Group are listed on Euronext Paris.
Smart Cut and UNIBOND are trademarks of S.O.I. TEC Silicon On Insulator Technologies
For further information, please contact:
Soitec
Iain Murray
CFO
Tel: +33 4 76 92 75 14
Email: investors@soitec.fr
Soitec
Olivier Brice
Investor Relations – Financial Communication
Tel: +33 4 76 92 93 80
Email: olivier.brice@soitec.fr