ASM International sees 4Q sales rise, but initiates small reorganization

05/01/1998

ASM International sees 4Q sales rise, but initiates small reorganization

Still adjusting to the end of its long-running patent litigation with Applied Materials, ASM International, Bilthoven, The Netherlands, has cut about 35 engineers from its Phoenix, AZ, operation. After years of litigation over epitaxial and CVD-related technologies, the two companies settled their disputes with joint cross-licensing agreements in November. The settlement left ASM with "an overabundance" of engineers who had previously been working on designing workarounds for newer models of ASM`s Epsilon systems to avoid conflict with the then-outstanding lawsuits, according to a company spokeswoman. The unspecified restructuring costs, which the spokeswoman said "were no great dollar amount," were taken in 1997.

For its fourth quarter, ended December 31, ASM saw both revenues and income climb over year-ago levels, with sales of Nlg 221.9 million (about $109.8 million) and earnings of Nlg 10.8 million (about $5.4 million ), or Nlg 0.33 (about $0.16) per share.