Infineon reports Second Quarter and 1st Half Year Results for Fiscal Year 2003

Apr 22, 2003 | Business & Financial Press

  • Second quarter revenues were Euro 1.48 billion – up 3 percent sequentially and 13 percent year-on-year - mainly driven by increased sales for memory products, record performance in automotive & industrial segment, and strong year-on-year improvement in secure mobile solutions

  • Continued gain of market share in key segments despite ongoing difficult market environment

  • Quarterly net loss of Euro 328 million; quarterly EBIT loss of Euro 223 million - primarily due to a strong price decline and write-down of inventories for memory products - the net loss includes exceptional effects of Euro 157 million

  • Continued solid cash position and significantly improved free cash flow


Munich, Germany – April 22, 2003 – Infineon Technologies AG (FSE/NYSE: IFX), one of the world's leading semiconductor manufacturers, today announced results for its second quarter and first half of fiscal year 2003, ended March 31, 2003. The company had revenues from continuing operations of Euro 1.48 billion, an increase of 3 percent sequentially and 13 percent year-on-year.

Dr. Ulrich Schumacher, President and CEO of Infineon Technologies AG commented: “We achieved a very good revenue growth and gained further market share in a continued difficult market environment mainly driven by increased sales for memory products and repeated record performance of the automotive & industrial segment. We increased our productivity significantly, however could not compensate for the dramatic price decline for memory products.”

Net loss amounted to Euro 328 million compared to a net loss of Euro 40 million in the previous quarter and Euro 108 million in the second quarter of last fiscal year. The quarterly net loss reflects the strong price decline for DDR memory chips as well as continued pricing pressure in most segments. The second quarter tax expense includes a valuation allowance for tax losses incurred of Euro 103 million in accordance with US GAAP and as announced in the previous two quarters. In addition, net loss included exceptional effects of Euro 54 million related to inventory write downs, non-recurring license income, restructuring charges and acquisition-related expenditures. Without these effects net loss would have been Euro 171 million.

Basic and diluted loss per share for the second quarter of fiscal year 2003 was Euro 0.45, compared to a loss per share of Euro 0.06 in the previous quarter and Euro 0.16 year-on-year.

Quarterly EBIT (earnings before interest, minority interest and taxes) amounted to a loss of Euro 223 million, compared to a loss of Euro 31 million in the previous quarter, and to a loss of Euro 176 million in the second quarter of the last fiscal year. The quarterly EBIT loss includes exceptional effects of Euro 82 million.

Expenditures for Research and Development in the second quarter totaled Euro 254 million, or 17 percent of sales, slightly down from Euro 265 million sequentially. SG&A expenses totaled Euro 164 million or 11 percent of total revenues, down from Euro 172 million or 12 percent of total revenues in the previous quarter. The decrease in these expenditures was mainly due to Infineon’s ongoing cost reduction measures.

Infineon’s gross cash position, representing cash and cash equivalents, marketable securities and restricted cash amounted to Euro 1.5 billion, down sequentially from Euro 1.6 billion. The decrease in gross cash was mainly due to investing activities exceeding cash flow from operations during the quarter. Free cash flow, representing cash from operating and investing activities excluding purchases or sales of marketable securities, significantly improved to negative Euro 90 million, up sequentially from negative Euro 362 million. This improvement mainly stems from higher operating cash flow and lower capital expenditures compared to the previous quarter.

Revenues outside Europe constituted 56 percent of total revenues, up from 55 percent in the previous quarter, reflecting Infineon’s increased sales in Asia, including Japan.

As of March 31, 2003, Infineon had approximately 31,200 employees worldwide, including about 5,500 engaged in research and development.

Pursuant to an agreement reached with Osram GmbH, the Company transferred all its opto-electronic activities to Osram as of March 31, 2003. Accordingly, the results of the opto-electronics business (previously in other operating segments) are reflected as a discontinued operation, and the operating results (e.g. sales, cost of sales and operating expenses) through March 31, 2003 have been reclassified to ensure comparability with the results of Infineon’s continuing operations.

Results for First Half of Fiscal Year 2003



Total revenues for the first half of fiscal year 2003 were Euro 2.93 billion, up 28 percent from Euro 2.28 billion in the same period last year. Net loss amounted to Euro 368 million, compared to a net loss of Euro 439 million year-on-year. The first half of fiscal year 2003 tax expense includes a valuation allowance for tax losses of Euro 125 million incurred in accordance with US GAAP. EBIT for the first half of this fiscal year was a loss of Euro 254 million, a significant improvement from an EBIT loss of Euro 735 million in the first half of the last fiscal year.

Business Group Performance



The Automotive & Industrial group’s second quarter revenues reached another all-time high of Euro 354 million, an increase of 6 percent sequentially and of 18 percent year-on-year. The increase resulted mainly from higher sales volumes in automotive power as well as power management & supply products. EBIT improved sequentially to Euro 49 million compared to Euro 44 million in the previous quarter and to Euro 24 million in the first quarter of fiscal year 2002. The sequential EBIT improvement was mainly due to improved productivity, including further conversion of production to 200mm wafers.

Infineon has further increased its market share for power management & supply applications (CoolMOS and OptiMOS technology mainly for computing), with particular strength in Asia. The company also improved its market position in automotive power applications, especially for powertrain and convenience.

Wireline Communications revenues improved to Euro 112 million in the second quarter, up 6 percent from the previous quarter, and up 17 percent year-on-year. The sequential revenue increase was principally due to higher sales in the Asian markets of Ethernet over VDSL access technology and next generation ADSL technology for central office applications. This reflects the successful alignment of Infineon’s portfolio of leading edge broadband access products to current market needs. EBIT improved to a loss of Euro 39 million from a loss of Euro 42 million in the previous quarter, and improved significantly from a loss of Euro 66 million during the second quarter of fiscal year 2002. The EBIT improvement resulted primarily from cost reductions.

Infineon improved its leading position in the Asian markets for next generation high-speed VDSL broadband access technology. The company also introduced a new family of intelligent fiber optics transceivers and shipped first samples of 10G XPAK transceivers to leading customers in the fiber optics market.

Secure Mobile Solutions’ second quarter revenues were Euro 376 million, down 9 percent from the previous quarter but up 27 percent compared to the second quarter of last year. The sequential quarterly revenue decline reflects an anticipated seasonal weakening of demand for mobile phones following the Christmas season. The quarterly EBIT loss of Euro 23 million improved from an EBIT loss of Euro 28 million during the previous quarter and from a loss of Euro 37 million for the second quarter of fiscal 2002. The loss was mainly due to lower sales volumes in cellular handsets and wireless infrastructure. Also price pressure was very strong in the market for silicon discretes as well as for security controllers. At the same time Infineon maintained a high level of forward investments into research and development for software and complete reference designs. However, the sequential improvement was due to increased productivity.

Infineon introduced a complete UMTS/EDGE solution at the 3GSM World Congress. In addition, the comprehensive alliance with Agere Systems for the development of fast wireless network solutions has announced the introduction of the most highly integrated dual-band multimode solution for WLAN systems and is expected to ship samples to customers in the third quarter. Infineon has now shipped more than 20 million Bluetooth chips since 2000.

The Memory Products group’s second quarter revenues were Euro 609 million, a significant increase of 12 percent sequentially and 4 percent year-on-year, based on strongly increased volumes offsetting sharply lower prices, and previously deferred license income of Euro 60 million. EBIT amounted to a loss of Euro 138 million compared to a positive EBIT of Euro 29 million in the first quarter and a loss of Euro 33 million during the second quarter of fiscal year 2002. The quarterly loss also included the effect of Euro 128 million of write-down of memory products inventories.

“Infineon significantly improved productivity, particularly for memory products, and is well ahead of schedule in ramping-up its 300mm facility in Dresden which has reached more than 6,000 wafer starts per week,” said Dr. Schumacher, “However, these achievements could not compensate for the strong price decline for memory products.” From the beginning of January the spot market price for the major volume product 256M DDR dropped by about 50 percent from US $ 6 to a minimum below US $ 3 by the end of February and improved slightly above US $ 3 at the end of the second quarter, according to DRAM Exchange.

Infineon has further expanded its manufacturing partnership-network by extending the foundry agreement with Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC) in China. Under the terms of this agreement, Infineon will license its 0.11 micron DRAM trench technology and its 300mm production know how to SMIC. When production at SMIC is fully ramped up (expected in 2005), it is expected to increase Infineon’s overall capacity by around 58,000 wafer starts per month. Another highlight is Infineon’s complete DDR-I 400 module platform (128MB, 256MB and 512MB), which has been validated by Intel.

Revenues in the Other operating segment were Euro 26 million, down 30 percent sequentially and up 13 percent year-on-year. EBIT was a loss of Euro 15 million compared to earnings of Euro 6 million in the previous quarter and a loss of Euro 7 million in the second quarter of fiscal year 2002.

In Corporate and Reconciliation, EBIT in the second quarter was a loss of Euro 57 million, down from a loss of Euro 40 million in the prior quarter and unchanged from a year ago, principally reflecting unallocated idle capacity costs and corporate restructuring charges.

Outlook for the second half of fiscal year 2003



“The current tough global economic environment and the international uncertainties do not allow for much market visibility. Over the last three months we have seen a further positive development of demand in most of our segments. Looking forward we expect a further positive development of demand in all target applications. To compensate for the ongoing pricing pressure we will continue to focus on improving productivity, further reducing costs and implementing Infineon’s restructuring programs, as well as our Agenda 5-to-1,” commented Dr. Schumacher.

For its Secure Mobile Solutions segment, Infineon expects a further moderate increase of demand for GSM/GPRS mobile handsets which is likely to have a positive effect on the demand for Bluetooth products as well. The company expects an ongoing difficult market environment with continued strong pricing pressure for silicon discretes.

Industry analysts are predicting a 5 percent reduction of capital expenditures in the global wireline telecom infrastructure market in 2003, but with regional differences, including moderate growth in Europe. Infineon expects continuing pricing pressure in its fiber optics business, but improved demand for broadband access technology (ADSL, VDSL), particularly in Asia and Japan.

In the automotive electronics and automotive semiconductor markets, Infineon expects the pricing pressure to continue. However, the company anticipates that further productivity increases combined with its strong portfolio for automotive power and power management and supply products will lead to additional market share gains.

At the beginning of the current third quarter Infineon has seen strong demand from OEMs for memory products. However, visibility for the DRAM market remains poor. A positive development of demand and a sustained improvement in prices still depend on the beginning of the corporate replacement cycle, increased infrastructure investments, and higher MB per box sales.

Telephone Conference Information



The Management Board of Infineon Technologies will conduct a telephone conference with analysts and institutional investors on April 22, 2003 at 3:30 a.m. Eastern Standard Time (U.S. EST), 9:30 a.m. Central Europe Time (CET), to discuss operating performance of the second quarter fiscal year 2003. A broadcast of the telephone conference will be available live and for download on Infineon‘s web site at: http://www.infineon.com

D I S C L A I M E R



This discussion includes forward-looking statements about our future business. These forward-looking statements include statements relating to future developments of the world semiconductor market, especially the market for memory products, Infineon’s future growth, the benefits of research and development alliances and activities, our planned levels of future investment in the expansion and modernization of our production capacity, the introduction of new technology at our facilities, the transitioning of our production processes to smaller structures, cost savings related to such transitioning and other initiatives, our successful development of technology based on industry standards, our ability to offer commercially viable products based on our technology, our ability to achieve our cost savings and growth targets. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of uncertainties, including trends in demand and prices for semiconductors generally and for our products in particular, the success of our development efforts, both alone and with our partners, the success of our efforts to introduce new production processes at our facilities and the actions of our competitors, the availability of funds for planned expansion efforts, as well as the other factors mentioned herein. As a result, our actual results could differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements.

Infineon, the stylized Infineon Technologies design are trademarks and servicemarks of Infineon Technologies AG. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

For Press Release including Financial Information see -Documents-
(Financial Information; Regional Sales Development; Segment results; EBIT; Consolidated balance sheets; Condensed consolidated cash flow information)

Information Number

INFXX200304.064

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