Dec. 17, 2002 – Veldhoven, Netherlands – Lithography equipment supplier ASML Holding NV will shortly unveil details of a large restructuring program, according to a person close to the company.

The person, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the statement could come “any day now,” Dow Jones reports. A spokesman for the labor union representing ASML employees in the Netherlands said he was told that a statement may be issued as soon as midday Tuesday.

According to union sources, ASML is planning to cut a substantial number of jobs, mostly at its loss-making Track & Thermal operations in San Jose, CA. ASML declined to comment.

ASML is loss-making on a group level, and analysts expect that the company could restructure its Track & Thermal operations vigorously to return to profitability. The company posted a net loss of 98.1 million euros ($100.3 million) for the first half of 2002.

ASML inherited the Track & Thermal operations when it bought Silicon Valley Group in 2001. The thermal division makes wafer-processing furnaces. In the first six months of the year, the unit accounted for 62% of ASML’s total operating loss, while it contributed only 47 million euros to net sales, on total sales of 823 million euros.