Ad-hoc | 20 January 2003 08:30

AT&S AG english

Sound Capacity Utilization and Outlook for Fiscal Year 2002/03 Ad-hoc-announcement transmitted by DGAP. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. ——————————————————————————– Sound Capacity Utilization and Outlook for Fiscal Year 2002/03 Leoben, Austria, January 20, 2003: In sharp contrast to the general trend in the printed circuit board industry AT&S Austria Technologie & Systemtechnik AG’s business operations continue to develop very favourably. After a satisfactory Christmas season capacity utilization remained at sound levels in the new calendar year. Furthermore, management assumes ongoing market share gains in the coming fiscal year. However, pricing pressure for our products is expected to remain substantial (around 10% annually). As a result, the industry is anticipated to continue to consolidate. For fiscal year 2002/03 (ending March 31, 2003) management still assumes group revenues of around EUR 275mn and earnings per share of around EUR 0.30. This would represent six times the earnings of the previous business year. For next fiscal year 2003/04 management continues to assume strong pricing pressure as well as start-up losses in connection with the ramp-up of the new Chinese plant. Due to the anticipated difficult market conditions and in the light of the current geopolitical situation it is also likely that demand and capacity utilization will remain fluctuating throughout the next business year. AT&S, however, remains confident as to its ability to further increase its market shares and its revenues in the next year as well as to generate profits on a sustained basis. If you have any inquiries please contact Manfred Weierer, Investor Relations, Tel: +43-1-68300-9215 or +43-664-4616348, respectively, E-Mail: m.weierer@ats.net. end of ad-hoc-announcement (c)DGAP 20.01.2003 Issuer’s information/explanatory remarks concerning this ad-hoc-announcement: Management believes that AT&S is in a remarkable competitive and market position within the global printed circuit board industry, particularly in the areas of technology, quality, total cost solutions, customer relationship, global presence, and marketing as well as product focus. While most of its competitors are loosing market shares and have to deal with deteriorating revenue levels and substantial losses for several quarters now, AT&S provides evidence of its outstanding performance by keeping its revenue levels and at the same time increasing profits considerably. On the other hand, however, a comparison of the valuation of AT&S with its main competitors on a multiple basis, e.g., EV/EBITDA, reveals that AT&S trades at the lower end of the range. Management is going to address this fact proactively by means of targeted investor relation activities in the future. ——————————————————————————– WKN: 922 230; ISIN: AT0000969985; Index: NEMAX 50 Listed: Neuer Markt in Frankfurt; Freiverkehr in Berlin, Bremen, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Hannover, München, Stuttgart 200830 Jän 03