SEZ Group Reduces Forecast for 2007
The slow down of DRAM manufacturing continues to impact on company orders. In the third quarter 2007, the SEZ Group have announced a preliminary order intake of 48 million Swiss Francs (CHF)-26 percent below its expectations due to the absence of expected orders from the DRAM memory segment, which is still under pricing pressures. With preliminary quarterly net sales of CHF 65 million, SEZ Group significantly fell short in reaching break-even level.
Due to continued weakness in demand from the memory as well as the foundry markets, the SEZ Group expects no substantial business improvement in the fourth quarter. Given current market conditions, results in the second half-year will be significantly below break-even level. Accordingly, SEZ's management is reducing its sales expectations for the current business year 2007 from CHF 350 million to approximately CHF 330 million with a reduced EBIT margin from roughly five percent to approximately two percent.
Based on positive indications from the foundry segment, the SEZ Group expects a recovery in demand from first quarter 2008 onward.
