Dutch computer chip equipment maker ASML on Wednesday announced net losses for the first quarter after a collapse in sales, but said it saw signs of improving market conditions. <\/p>\n
It swung to a loss of €117-million against a profit of €145-million for the same period in 2008.<\/p>\n
Sales, which reached €184-million in the first quarter, were a fifth of the figure of 919 million euros for the same period last year. <\/p>\n
ASML chief executive Eric Meurice said in a statement that "semiconductor equipment demand collapsed in the first quarter of 2009 as customers went through inventory corrections and production capacity adjustments." <\/p>\n
The results were in line with the expectations of financial analysts surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires, who predicted an average loss of €115-million and sales of €190-million.<\/p>\n
The Dutch company said it expected second-quarter sales to be between €210-million and €230-million and that a pick-up in demand was underway. <\/p>\n
"Although we will continue to be affected by the global economic recession and very limited capacity demand, we are seeing signs of a pick-up in technology purchases from the current low run rate", Meurice said. <\/p>\n
US chip maker Intel Corp said on Tuesday that it is also seeing signs of an improvement in the computer market, driven by consumer spending on technology products.<\/p>\n
It said the chip industry is returning to normal seasonal patterns. <\/p>\n
ASML is the world’s largest maker of lithography systems, which map out tiny electronic circuits on silicon wafers.<\/p>\n
It counts Intel, Samsung Electronics Co Ltd and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co among its customers.<\/p>\n
ASML’s shares closed at €14.60 on Tuesday. They have fallen 4.6 percent in the past year, outperforming the AEX market which has fallen 47.4 percent. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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