CFM Announces Fiscal Third Quarter Results *Net Sales Increase 35%
Net sales for the third quarter of fiscal 2000 increased 34.6% to $13.0 million, up from $9.6 million in the same period in fiscal 1999 and 7.8% over fiscal second quarter 2000 net sales of $12.0 million. The Company reported a net loss for the third fiscal quarter of $3.6 million, or ($0.46) per diluted share, compared to a net loss of $2.3 million, or $(0.29) per diluted share, in the third quarter of fiscal 1999. The fiscal 1999 net loss was reduced by a tax benefit of $0.15 per diluted share. No tax benefit was taken in fiscal 2000. The net loss in the second quarter of fiscal 2000 was $16.5 million, or ($2.09) per diluted share which net loss included a valuation allowance against deferred tax assets in the amount of $12.6 million or ($1.60) per diluted share.
On June 28, the Company announced that CFM and Mattson Technology entered into a merger agreement and that Mattson entered into an agreement to acquire part of STEAG Electronic Systems AG's Semiconductor Equipment Division in a related transaction.
"We're very excited about the strong, positive customer reaction to news of the merger," said Roger Carolin, CFM's President and CEO, who is expected to serve as President of Mattson's Wet Process Division following the merger. "Our integration efforts to date have been very encouraging. The Steag and CFM teams are working well together on developing a tightly coupled plan to be executed immediately upon closing. Based on our discussions to date, we are confident that we can quickly weld the two groups into a highly competitive business unit that will deliver a full complement of advanced products, high customer satisfaction, and significant operational cost savings. We are looking forward to serving a combined customer base that will be significantly larger than either company currently serves individually."
Orders for the third quarter of fiscal 2000 totaled $14.0 million, increasing 64% over the previous quarter and 10% over the same period in fiscal 1999. Backlog increased to $9.7 million. Orders from the US accounted for 80% of total orders; Asia accounted for 18% of orders with the remainder coming from Europe.
During the third quarter, CFM received multiple orders for its OMNI™ semiconductor wafer processing systems. Two tools were ordered by a major US chip manufacturer that will use the tools to meet increased capacity needs and complement already installed CFM systems in production. In a separate order, a new customer located in Texas purchased four OMNI tools for installation in a new fab.
Gross margin for the third quarter of fiscal 2000 was 36.1%, down slightly due to product mix.
Research, development and engineering expenses were $2.5 million for the third fiscal quarters of both 2000 and 1999, compared to $2.2 million in the preceding quarter. Fiscal fourth quarter expenses should decline slightly.
Selling, general and administrative expenses for the third quarter of fiscal 2000 were $5.9 million, compared to $6.1 million in the second quarter of fiscal 2000 and $4.8 million in the third quarter of fiscal 1999. The Company anticipates SG&A to remain approximately constant in the coming quarter.
As of July 31, 2000, the Company's cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments totaled $13.8 million, and shareholders' equity was $44.7 million.