Fourth Quarter Net Income Increases 251% to $3.9 Million, or $0.12 per Share, Versus Prior Year Quarter; Revenue Up 36% to $65 Million
KALISPELL, Mont., Nov. 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Semitool, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMTL), a leading manufacturer of wafer processing equipment for the semiconductor industry, today reported financial results for its fourth quarter and fiscal year ended September 30, 2006.
Fourth quarter revenue advanced 36 percent to $65.0 million versus revenue of $47.8 million in the fourth quarter last year. Net income increased 251 percent to $3.9 million, or $0.12 per share, versus net income of $1.1 million, or $0.04 per share, in the fourth quarter last year.
Equipment bookings were $65.6 million versus bookings of $65.0 million in last year's fourth quarter, and the record $77.3 million reported in this year's third quarter. Deferred revenue at the end of the fourth quarter was $14.4 million and shipping backlog was $85.3 million, combining for a total revenue backlog of $99.7 million. Total shipments in the fourth quarter were $64.6 million.
Larry Murphy, president and chief operating officer, said, "Continued strong demand for our flagship Raider tools, as well as successful efforts to reduce selling and administrative expenses, led to fourth quarter revenue and earnings results that exceeded our guidance. For the second straight quarter, a significant portion of our revenue resulted from follow-on orders placed by existing Raider customers. Moreover, approximately 90% of our fourth quarter bookings were repeat Raider orders.
"We continue to see strong demand from within the memory market for copper damascene applications," Murphy said. "We also have added a new front-end-of-line, single-wafer clean customer -- our first in the DRAM space. We believe the long-term growth opportunities represented by this sector are very compelling." Murphy added, "Our expense management efforts have benefited both from our successful transition to a direct sales model in Asia, which has led to a meaningful decline in our commission costs, and the reduction of Sarbanes-Oxley compliance expenses, which declined by more than $1.8 million during fiscal 2006 versus the prior year." Ray Thompson, chairman and CEO, said, "With our international bookings reaching 75 percent of our total business, Semitool has built a world-class organization and infrastructure. We believe our increased activity in the global marketplace positions us for continued growth. We expect fiscal 2007 will be another year of growth for Semitool." Full year results For the fiscal year, revenue increased 28 percent to $243.2 million versus $190.4 million in fiscal 2005. Net income was $9.8 million, or $0.31 per share, versus net income of $10.1 million, or $0.35 per share, last year. Fiscal 2005's net income results included the receipt of a $2.9 million, or $0.07 per share, payment related to a patent infringement settlement.
At September 30, 2006, cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities totaled $17.3 million versus $7.0 million at the end of fiscal 2005, and $15.9 million at the end of the 2006 fiscal third quarter. Total shareholders' equity was $161.0 million versus $120.4 million at September 30, 2005, and $156.4 million at June 30, 2006.
Guidance Management expects revenue for the first quarter of fiscal 2007 will be in the range of $62 million to $66 million, and first quarter earnings per share will range from $0.10 to $0.13. For the full 2007 fiscal year, revenue is expected to range from $260 million to $310 million.
Conference Call Information Semitool will host an investor conference call today at 5:00 p.m. Eastern. The call can be accessed by dialing 866-831-6267 (617-213-8857 for international callers) and entering the passcode 52087143. A simultaneous webcast will be available via the Internet at http://www.semitool.com/. Webcast participants should access the website at least 10 minutes early to register and download any necessary audio software. A replay of the webcast will be available for 90 days. An audio replay will be available from 7 p.m. Eastern on November 9, 2006, until 11:59 p.m. Eastern on November 11, 2006, and can be accessed by calling 888-286-8010 (617-801-6888 for international callers) and entering the passcode 29597503.
About Semitool, Inc.
Semitool designs, manufactures and supports highly engineered, multi-chamber single-wafer and batch wet chemical processing equipment used in the fabrication of semiconductor devices. The company's primary suites of equipment include electrochemical deposition systems for electroplating copper, gold, solder and other metals; surface preparation systems for cleaning, stripping and etching silicon wafers; and wafer transport container cleaning systems. The company's equipment is used in semiconductor fabrication front-end and back-end processes, including wafer level packaging.
Headquartered in Kalispell, Montana, Semitool maintains sales and support centers in the United States, Europe and Asia. The company's stock trades on Nasdaq under the symbol SMTL. For more information, please visit the company's website at http://www.semitool.com/.
Semitool is a registered trademark of Semitool, Inc.
Safe Harbor Statement
The matters discussed in this news release include forward-looking statements, including statements related to the continued strong demand for our Raider tools; long-term growth opportunities in the memory market; the future impact of efforts to reduce selling and administrative costs; increased international sales; expectations of fiscal 2007 being another strong year of growth; first quarter revenue guidance in the range of $62 million to $66 million; first quarter diluted earnings per share guidance in the range from $0.10 to $0.13; and full-year revenue in the range of $260 million to $310 million. Also, bookings, deferred revenue, backlog and shipments are not necessarily an indication of revenue in any future period. These forward-looking statements are based on management's assumptions, estimates and projections as of the date hereof and are subject to risks and uncertainties. Many factors can adversely affect demand for our tools and growth opportunities, including the tools' performance and general market conditions. Also, many factors can adversely affect forecasted financial performance, including cancellations and push-backs, delays in customers' on-site acceptance of our products and unanticipated costs. Our business in general is subject to risks that can cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated in our forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, demand being adversely affected by the cyclicality in the semiconductor industry, the financial condition of our customers, the company's ability to timely deliver and support its products, technological changes that affect our ability to compete, the risks associated with competing on a global basis as well as a number of other risk factors described in our Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2005 and our other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We assume no obligation to update forward-looking statements that become untrue because of subsequent events.
(Financial tables follow) SEMITOOL, INC. CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF INCOME
(Amounts in Thousands, Except Per Share Amounts) Three Months Ended Fiscal Year Ended
September 30, September 30,
2006 2005 2006 2005 Net sales $65,010 $47,810 $243,218 $190,373
Cost of sales 34,048 22,991 130,299 93,404
Gross profit 30,962 24,819 112,919 96,969 Operating expenses:
Selling, general
and administrative 19,556 18,681 73,624 66,513
Research and development 6,277 5,110 24,525 19,742
Total operating
expenses 25,833 23,791 98,149 86,255 Income from operations 5,129 1,028 14,770 10,714
Other income (expense), net 193 593 (117) 3,793
Income before income tax 5,322 1,621 14,653 14,507
Income tax provision 1,458 519 4,817 4,457 Net income $3,864 $1,102 $9,836 $10,050 Earnings per share:
Basic $0.12 $0.04 $0.32 $0.35
Diluted $0.12 $0.04 $0.31 $0.35 Weighted average common
shares:
Basic 31,915 28,731 31,174 28,709
Diluted 32,224 29,046 31,518 29,086 SEMITOOL, INC. CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
(Amounts in Thousands) September 30, September 30,
2006 2005
ASSETS Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents $17,347 $6,557
Marketable securities -- 475
Trade receivables, net 56,593 42,165
Inventories 90,159 72,294
Prepaid expenses and other current assets 14,314 13,769
Total current assets 178,413 135,260
Property, plant and equipment, net 44,610 35,558
Other assets, net 9,373 7,862
Total assets $232,396 $178,680 LIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY Current liabilities:
Trade accounts payable $22,882 $19,153
Other current liabilities 40,668 32,487
Total current liabilities 63,550 51,640
Long-term liabilities 7,822 6,619
Total liabilities 71,372 58,259 Shareholders' equity:
Common stock 80,738 49,853
Retained earnings 80,899 71,063
Accumulated other comprehensive loss (613) (495)
Total shareholders' equity 161,024 120,421
Total liabilities and shareholders'
equity $232,396 $178,680
DATASOURCE: Semitool, Inc.
CONTACT: Larry Viano, Chief Financial Officer of Semitool, Inc., +1-406-752-2107, ; or Geoff High of Pfeiffer High Investor Relations, Inc., +1-303-393-7044, for Semitool, Inc.
Web site: http://www.semitool.com/
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