News Article
ASML Achieves Record 2011 Sales and Enters 2012 On A High
ASML has exceeded analysts' expectations with strong fourth-quarter results and record-high sales and profits for the year.
"¢ Full year 2011 net sales and net income were at record levels.
"¢ Net bookings in Q4 2011 of EUR 710 mln (37 units).
"¢ Dividend proposed of EUR 0.46 per share (up from EUR 0.40).
Outlook: ASML expects first half 2012 to achieve net sales of about EUR 2.4 billion
"We achieved 2011 record sales and profit in line with guidance initially issued a year ago, confirming the robustness of the fundamentals of the lithography business and the value of our systems. We thank our customers for their support and our employees for their hard work and dedication in realizing our potential," said Eric Meurice, President and Chief Executive Officer of ASML. "We expect a healthy start for 2012, as we plan Q1 2012 bookings at a level above that of Q4 2011 and a first half sales level of about EUR 2.4 billion. Our customers are indeed continuing their introductions of advanced chip designs with the need to build critical mass capacity for those nodes. This trend is extended from 2011 for the Logic segment, accelerating for NAND Flash memory and expected to kick in for DRAM memory later in the year. Our customers' development of these sub 30-nanometer nodes is supported by our portfolio of advanced TWINSCAN NXT:1950i immersion scanners and our widening portfolio of Holistic Lithography add-on products enabling optimized modeling and manufacturing within ever tighter tolerances.
For the next generation nodes, we continue to make progress in bringing EUV technology to the market: we have achieved a low but relatively stable throughput at customer sites with our NXE:3100 system, enabling them to further their recipe development. Indeed, more than 5,300 wafers have now been processed and imaging at 16 nm exposure has been demonstrated, driving the development of the necessary EUV infrastructure and customer processes. In parallel, we are focusing on the light source, which currently limits the system throughput, to reach our objective of proven 60 wafers per hour in the second half of 2012. The work packages required for success to increase raw light power, raise duty cycle and improve conversion efficiency, have been identified and the progress in each area supports our roadmap at this time," Meurice said.
For the first quarter 2012, ASML expects net sales of about EUR 1.2 billion. Sales are expected to have a gross margin in Q1 2012 of about 43 percent. R&D costs for Q1 are expected at EUR 145 million to support our strategic investments. SG&A costs are expected at EUR 54 million.
