POWAY, Calif., July 26, 2001 -- Cohu, Inc. (NASDAQ:COHU) today announced that sales were $29.3 million for the second quarter ended June 30, 2001 compared to $86.8 million for the second quarter of 2000 and $43.7 million for the first quarter of 2001. The net loss for the second quarter of 2001 was $2.8 million, or $.14 per share, compared to net income of $12.9 million or $.61 per share for the second quarter of 2000 and a net loss of $1.3 million or $.07 per share in the first quarter of 2001. In the quarter ended June 30, 2001 the Company recorded pretax inventory related charges of approximately $4.6 million primarily as a result of changes in customer forecasts. The Company previously announced the sale of its San Diego buildings and relocation to its new Poway facility. The Company will recognize a pretax gain from the sale of approximately $7.5 million in July 2001.
Net sales for the first six months of 2001 were $73.0 million with a net loss of $4.2 million and a net loss per share of $.20 compared to net sales of $159.5 million with net income of $20.1 million and earnings per share of $.94 for the first six months of 2000.
New orders for the second quarter of 2001 were $22.5 million compared to $34.3 million for the first quarter of 2001. Backlog was $34.7 million at June 30, 2001 compared to $41.5 million at March 31, 2001. Second quarter 2001 sales of semiconductor test handling equipment accounted for 74% of total sales. Sales of television cameras and related equipment were 17% of sales and metal detection and microwave equipment contributed 9% of sales.
James A. Donahue, President and Chief Executive Officer stated, "Conditions in the semiconductor equipment industry remain weak, with equipment utilization on some test floors below fifty percent. Based on regular discussions with customers, we do not see any data to support an improvement in business in the near term. Accordingly, we've reduced our production capacity and are carefully controlling expenses."
Donahue continued, "Despite the tough market, we are maintaining our focus and concentrating on key activities that will position us for continued growth when conditions improve. On July 16, we purchased the assets of the Automated Systems (AS) business from Schlumberger. AS has significant technology and intellectual property associated with precise temperature control and heat dissipation of high-speed, high-power integrated circuits, such as microprocessors, during test. Our Summit Test Handler is the industry leader in this segment, and with the AS technology, we are in a position to strengthen our leadership in this market, and extend the capabilities of our test handling systems to address the growing need for enhanced temperature control on a broader range of ICs."
"Last week at Semicon West, we announced three new test handlers. Castle EC is a high-throughput, tri-temp, parallel system for a broad-range of logic test applications. We introduced a new version of the Delta 1888, with bowl-feed input and automated tape-and-reel output. This handler is designed for cost-effective, bulk-handling of leadless packages, such as those used in RF applications. In Summit ATC, we've added advanced thermal control capability to our production-proven system, to reduce yield loss due to temperature rise within the device as it is tested. Despite the current weak environment, we plan to continue our aggressive investments in new product development," Donahue concluded.
The Company's Board of Directors announced that it has approved a quarterly cash dividend of $.05 per share payable on November 2, 2001 to shareholders of record on September 14, 2001. The Company has paid consecutive quarterly cash dividends since 1977.
Certain matters discussed in this report including statements concerning the Company's expectations of industry conditions and its potential responses are forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected or forecasted. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the slowdown in the market for our products and our responses to the slowdown; order cancellations; risks associated with acquisitions; the cyclical and unpredictable nature of capital expenditures by semiconductor manufacturers; inventory write-offs; the Company's ability to convert new products under development into production on a timely basis, support product development and meet customer delivery and acceptance requirements for next generation equipment; the effect of competitive products; the concentration of revenues in a limited number of customers; increased electricity costs and power shortages; and other risks addressed in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission including the most recently filed Form 10-K and Form 10-Q. The Company assumes no obligation to update the information in this report. Cohu is a leading supplier of test handling solutions used by the global semiconductor industry as well as a supplier of closed circuit television, metal detection and microwave radio equipment. Cohu will be conducting their conference call on Thursday, July 26, 2001 at 2:00 PM PST. The call will be webcast at www.cohu.com. Replays of the call can be accessed at www.cohu.com.
Full Press Release including Consolidated Statements of Operations and Consolidated Balance Sheets
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