Ad-hoc | 22 January 2003 20:51

Süss Micro Tec AG english

SÜSS MicroTec: Q4/2002 Sales Approx. 50% Above Previous Quarters Ad-hoc-announcement transmitted by DGAP. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. ——————————————————————————– Net sales in fourth quarter 2002 exceed EUR 42 million/ SÜSS almost achieved planned sales for business year 2002/ Inventories significantly reduced/ Positive cash flow in fourth quarter and full fiscal year Munich, January 22, 2003, In the fourth quarter of 2002, SÜSS MicroTec AG increased its net sales according to preliminary unaudited figures by around 50% compared with the previous quarters to approx. EUR 42 million. With aggregate sales for the full fiscal year 2002 thus coming to more than EUR 127 million, the company almost reached its own sales target of approx. EUR 130 million. Although the last quarter in 2002 was again by far the year’s strongest in terms of sales, the otherwise customary increase in demand for machines for short-notice delivery turned out to be lower than in the previous years. This was also reflected in the level of order entry, which at just over EUR 23 million was at the lower end of the range from the previous quarters. Adjusted to take account of exchange rate factors and cancellations, approx. EUR 21 million net was added to the order book in the fourth quarter. Orders received in the fiscal year 2002 thus amounted to approx. EUR 105 million (2001: EUR 156 million). The order backlog as at the end of the year amounted to EUR 32 million. In the fourth quarter, SÜSS MicroTec managed to reduce its inventories significantly, from more than EUR 61 million at the end of the third quarter to almost EUR 50 million. This, combined with faster incoming payments for accounts receivable, led to a positive cash flow of more than EUR 5 million in the fourth quarter and a of EUR +2 million for the full fiscal year (without counting for the capital increase from January; including capital increase: EUR+35.5 million). Liquid funds as at December 31, 2002 thus increased to more than EUR 13 million (EUR 17 million in bank deposits and EUR 3.5 million in short-term liabilities), compared with EUR 8 million as at the end of the third quarter. These figures represent the first successes of the comprehensive cost reduction program, as a consequence of which – among other things – the number of employees was reduced from above1000 (the peak at the beginning of 2002) to fewer than 750 (on completion of the measures that had already been initiated). Most of the reduction was already carried out till the end of 2002. end of ad-hoc-announcement (c)DGAP 22.01.2003 Issuer’s information/explanatory remarks concerning this ad-hoc-announcement: SÜSS MicroTec will announce its final, audited figures and results for the business year 2002 on March 31, 2003. Further information: SÜSS MicroTec AG, Tanja Satzer, Investor Relations, Tel.: +49-89-32 00 73 14, E-mail: t.satzer@suss.de ——————————————————————————– WKN: 722670; ISIN: DE0007226706; Index: NEMAX 50 Listed: Neuer Markt in Frankfurt; Freiverkehr in Berlin, Bremen, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Hannover, München und Stuttgart 222051 Jän 03