Ad-hoc | 28 May 2002 07:35

AT&S Austr. T. & Systemt. english

Results for Fiscal Year 2001/2002 ended March 31, 2002 Ad-hoc-announcement transmitted by DGAP. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. ——————————————————————————– AT&S AG, Leoben, May 28, 2002. The past business year was particularly influenced by a very difficult economic situation, the closedown of our plant in Augsburg with a non-recurring restructuring expense of EUR 16.5 million, as well as start-up costs for our new production facility in China. In this environment we have been successful again in achieving a clear positive operating result as well as positive net income. Total revenues in the past fiscal year 2001/2002 amounted to EUR 274.5 million, which represents a drop of 15.0% in comparison to the previous year. Gross profit margin amounted to 16.7% after 22.3% in the preceding year. Key figures (in EUR million, Earnings/Share in EUR): 2001/2002 Margin 2000/2001 Margin EBIT 7.5 2.7% 53.9 16.7% EBIT excl. restr. exp. 24.0 8.8% EBITDA 52.3 19.0% 84.3 26.1% EBITDA excl. restr. exp. 63.1 23.0% Earnings/Share 0.05 1.31 Earnings/Share excl. restr. exp. 0.44 While in the 2001 calendar year the printed circuit board industry experienced a decline of around 20% in total world sales (12% in HDI/Microvia) from the previous year’s level, AT&S recorded increases of around 3% in total revenues (12% in HDI/Microvia). These figures reflect an improvement of our relative market position. Visibility for the fiscal year 2002/2003 still remains very low. For this reason clear guidance still appears to be not yet feasible. For the total business year we are expecting a slight increase in revenues compared to the previous business year, despite of the first quarter presumed to be difficult. The result presentation (Conference Call) can be retrieved from the AT&S webpage, www.ats.net, Investor Relations, Downloads, as of today at 08h00 CET. Hardcopies of the Annual Report will be available as of June 20, 2002. For any inquiries please contact Manfred Weierer, Investor Relations, Tel: +43-3842-200 211, E-Mail: m.weierer@ats.net. end of ad-hoc-announcement (c)DGAP 28.05.2002 Issuer’s information/explanatory remarks concerning this ad-hoc-announcement: Fiscal Year 2002/2003 – Statements of Management: In terms of market conditions the year 2002 is set to remain a difficult one for the technology and for the telecommunications sector. Although we expect a modest recovery in the economy as a whole in the second half of the year, the extent to which this will impact our performance cannot be predicted at this stage. Even in the light of the first quarter presumed to be difficult we are expecting a slight increase in revenues for fiscal year 2002/2003 compared to the previous business year. In times of difficult market conditions we have further expanded our research and development spending and we have intensified the partnerships with our existing customers. In addition, during the past business year we have increased our marketing activities by acquiring new customers, particularly Contract Electronics Manufacturers (CEMs) and customers in the telecoms, automotive, and industrial electronics industries. In contrast to many of its peer group companies AT&S was able to achieve gains in market shares, and differed in terms of comparatively high profitability. In addition, AT&S managed to incur lower restructuring expenses during the past business year. ——————————————————————————– WKN: 922 230; ISIN: AT0000969985; Index: NEMAX 50 Listed: Neuer Markt in Frankfurt; Freiverkehr in Berlin, Bremen, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Hannover, München, Stuttgart 280735 Mai 02