ASM INTERNATIONAL N.V. REPORTS SECOND QUARTER 2016 RESULTS

Almere, Netherlands, July 28, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ASM International N.V. (Euronext Amsterdam: ASM) today reports its second quarter 2016 operating results (unaudited) in accordance with IFRS.

REPORTING 2016

With the 2015 Q4 earnings release, published on February 23, 2016, ASMI announced that as of January 1, 2016, it will report its financial results in accordance with IFRS. Up until the last reporting regarding 2015, ASMI's primary external and internal reporting has been based on US GAAP. In addition ASMI issued quarterly reconciliations of net earnings and shareholders' equity and (semi) annual financial statements prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). Following the voluntary delisting from NASDAQ, August 2015, ASMI migrated to IFRS as its only internal and external reporting standard from January 1, 2016 and discontinued the use of US GAAP as of the same date. During 2016 comparable results based on US GAAP will be presented, as from 2017 only results based on IFRS will be reported. The main deviations between IFRS and US GAAP are explained in Annex 2.

FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS

As from 2016 ASMI reports its results based on IFRS instead of US GAAP.

• Net sales for the second quarter 2016 were €139 million, a decrease of 3% compared to the previous quarter. Year-on-year net sales decreased with 31%.
• New orders at €159 million were 3% below the Q1 2016 level.
• Normalized net earnings for the second quarter 2016 increased by €30 million compared to the first quarter 2016. Operating result decreased €2 million. The financing result included €8 million positive effects from currencies compared to €11 million negative effects in the first quarter. The result from investments increased with €10 million.

COMMENT

Commenting on the results, Chuck del Prado, President and Chief Executive Officer of ASM International said:
"Both Q2 revenues at €139 million, and order intake at €159 million came in at the high end of our guidance. Gross margin remained stable at around the 44%. Net result in Q2 improved strongly to €42 million mainly due to the strong performance of ASMPT and favorable currency developments on cash holdings in foreign currencies."

OUTLOOK

2015 has shown a strong growth of the single wafer ALD market. We estimate this growth to continue whereby the single wafer ALD equipment market will double in the period 2015-2018/2019. We however expect the single wafer ALD market to show a double digit decline in 2016, caused by a low demand in Memory  which will not be offset by the strong increase in Logic/Foundries. Our single wafer ALD market share is expected to show an increase in 2016. We expect the single wafer ALD market to strongly improve again in 2017.

• In Memory, the NAND market is shifting from Planar NAND to 3D NAND. This shift will significantly reduce the demand for additional multi patterning-related single wafer ALD capacity. Non-patterning related single wafer ALD demand is expected to gradually increase as soon as next generation 3D NAND is going to ramp into high volume.
• In Memory, DRAM industry capacity demand was high in 2015 and has declined strongly in 2016. Based on current visibility the demand for new DRAM-related single wafer ALD capacity is believed to recover earliest in the course of 2017.
• In Logic/Foundry the transition to the 10 nm technology node fuels substantially higher single wafer ALD-equipment demand than the previous nodes.

For Q3 we expect sales between €135-150 million, while we expect an order intake of €100-130 million, both on a currency comparable level. We expect a stronger second half in terms of sales as compared to the first half of 2016.

INTERIM FINANCIAL REPORT

On August 31, 2016 ASM International will publish its Interim Financial report for the six months ended June 30, 2016. This report comprises regulated information within the meaning of articles 1:1 and 5:25d of the Dutch Financial Markets Supervision Act (Wet op het Financieel Toezicht) and includes consolidated condensed interim financial statements prepared in accordance with IAS 34, "Interim Financial Reporting", an interim management board report and a management board responsibility statement. The interim financial report for the six months ended June 30, 2016 will be available online at www.asm.com as from August 31, 2016.

SHARE BUYBACK PROGRAM

October 28, 2015 ASMI announced that its Management Board authorized the repurchase of up to €100 million of the Company's common shares within the 2015-2016 time frame. This buyback program will be executed by intermediaries and will end as soon as the aggregate purchase price of the common shares acquired by ASMI has reached €100 million, but ultimately on November 20, 2016.

On May 25, 2016 the General Meeting of Shareholders authorized ASMI to acquire shares for a period of 18 months. The repurchase program is part of ASMI's commitment to use excess cash for the benefit of its shareholders.

The program started on November 26, 2015. On June 30, 2016, just over 65% of the program was completed at an average share price of €36.37.

About ASM International

ASM International NV, headquartered in Almere, the Netherlands, its subsidiaries and participations design and manufacture equipment and materials used to produce semiconductor devices. ASM International, its subsidiaries and participations provide production solutions for wafer processing (Front-end segment) as well as for assembly & packaging and surface mount technology (Back-end segment) through facilities in the United States, Europe, Japan and Asia. ASM International's common stock trades on the Euronext Amsterdam Stock Exchange (symbol ASM). For more information, visit ASMI's website at www.asm.com.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements: All matters discussed in this press release, except for any historical data, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. These include, but are not limited to, economic conditions and trends in the semiconductor industry generally and the timing of the industry cycles specifically, currency fluctuations, corporate transactions, financing and liquidity matters, the success of restructurings, the timing of significant orders, market acceptance of new products, competitive factors, litigation involving intellectual property, shareholders or other issues, commercial and economic disruption due to natural disasters, terrorist activity, armed conflict or political instability, epidemics and other risks indicated in the Company's reports and financial statements. The Company assumes no obligation nor intends to update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect future developments or circumstances.

ASM International will host an investor conference call and webcast on Friday, July 29, 2016 at 15:00 Continental European Time (9:00 a.m. - US Eastern Time).

The teleconference dial-in numbers are as follows:
·      United States:         +1 646 254 3363
·      International:           +44 (0)20 3427 1919
·      The Netherlands:     +31 (0)20 716 8296
·      Access Code:          485540
A simultaneous audio webcast will be accessible at www.asm.com.

CONTACT

Investor contact:

Victor Bareño
T: +31 88 100 8500
E: victor.bareno@asm.com

Media contact:

Ian Bickerton
T: +31 625 018 512

Press Release Second Quarter 2016 Results http://hugin.info/132090/R/2031518/755955.pdf

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