Corporate | 6 May 2003 08:00

AT&S AG english

Results for Fiscal-Year 2002/03 as of March 31, 2003 Corporate-news announcement sent by DGAP. The sender is solely responsible for the contents of this announcement. ——————————————————————————– AT&S achieves satisfactory results AT&S AG, Vienna, Austria, May 6, 2003 Management’s Review of Fiscal-Year 2002/03 In the past fiscal year, AT&S recorded satisfactory results, particularly from the viewpoint of successfully implementing many operational measures: The company has a strong capital base, is profitable and has adapted successfully to the rapidly changing conditions of the market. AT&S has continued to expand its global presence with production sites in Austria, Hungary and India, as well as in China, where the new plant has been ramped-up successfully, and above all, AT&S has consolidated its position in the growth markets of Asia. The new plant in Klagenfurt (Austria) has been successfully integrated and, as a result of the relocation of the central administrative offices to Vienna (Austria), we have been able to take another important step towards building company structures which are global in outlook and focussed on growth. AT&S is the largest European supplier of high-tech high-performance printed circuit boards and is one of the world leaders in technology in the high-tech sector of HDI/Microvia. In addition, AT&S is positioning itself as a major total-solution provider in the area of electronic interconnection technology. By using our R&D network, we are working at a consistently high level to continue developing and improving our manufacturing processes. By embedding components and with improved manufacturing designs, we are striving to offer our customers higher quality solutions at the same time as reducing the total costs of the end products. Finally, we are extending our technical projects to include the development of new products and materials as well, which will be used again and again in applications in the years to come. In addition to its R&D activities, AT&S also offers special added value for customers by using its efficient supply chain management, which guarantees comprehensive control of all flows of goods and information to all suppliers, customers and internal procedures with the appropriate tools. The aim of this is to continue to optimize the overall costs for the end product as well as to offer our customers improved one-stop-shopping and vendor-managed-inventory solutions. Furthermore, we have been successful in further intensifying our close cooperation with our key customers, Nokia, Siemens, or Hella and in building up new long-term partnerships. In addition, we have pushed forward further diversification to optimise the mix of customers, industries and products, and AT&S is increasingly focusing on the automotive and industrial sectors, in addition to the area of telecommunications/hand-held applications. Moreover, increasing outsourcing of production processes by OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers) has led to expansion in our customer structure by adding CEMs (Contract Electronics Manufacturers) and ODMs (Original Design Manufacturers). AT&S is meeting the ever more rapidly changing demands of its business and the flexibility this demands, with new sales strategies and structures, which are based on adding value and efficiency. These were a significant factor in winning additional market shares. Likewise, different ways of handling local and world- wide markets have been implemented more effectively. Cost reduction programmes have been successfully and extensively implemented without impairing our high-quality standards and services. Moreover, we have moved ahead with our plant specialization plan and have adapted to market requirements as necessary. In the year under review a total of 1,365,280 shares were repurchased at an average price of EUR 9.96 leading to a total buy-back amount of EUR 13.6mn. As an expression of its fundamentally positive view management shall increase the annual dividend to EUR 0.22 per share (vs. EUR 0.18 in the previous year). As a result of increasingly optimized logistics solutions and therefore improved working capital management, and as a result of the fact that most of the CAPEX (capital expenditure) for our newly-built plant in China was incurred in the past fiscal year, we can expect a clearly positive free cash flow for the 2003/04 fiscal year. AT&S is reacting extremely sensitively to the SARS epidemic, as the full effects of this disease cannot yet be estimated at the moment. In concrete terms, a series of measures, such as detailed emergency plans, has already been taken. For years we have placed strong principles of good company management and transparency at the centre of our dealings, and have fulfilled our corporate governance goals way beyond the minimum requirements by signing the German Stock Exchange’s “Declaration on Corporate Governance” during the last fiscal year. With the new structure of the German Stock Exchange, AT&S has now been accepted as a high-quality “Prime Standard” company, and in February 2003, we were accepted in the TecDAX, the German selected technology index. Finally, we should like to point out that this success has been made possible largely as a result of the innovation and flexibility of our workforce. end of message, (c)DGAP 06.05.2003 ——————————————————————————– WKN: 922230; ISIN: AT0000969985; Index: TecDAX, NEMAX 50 Listed: Geregelter Markt in Frankfurt (Prime Standard); Freiverkehr in Berlin- Bremen, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Hannover, München und Stuttgart 060800 Mai 03