First quarter revenue up 97% year over year
Net income up 206% year over year
AURORA, IL,
January 29, 2001 -- Cabot Microelectronics Corporation (Nasdaq:
CCMP), the leading supplier of chemical mechanical planarization
(CMP) polishing slurries to the semiconductor industry, today reported
operating results for its first fiscal quarter ended December 31,
2000.
Compared to
the prior-year pro forma* amounts, revenues for the quarter increased
97% to $68.6 million. Net income for the quarter increased 206%
over the prior year to $14.4 million and diluted earnings per share
grew to $0.59.
"Our record
first quarter results exceeded our estimates and were primarily
driven by two factors. First, most of our IC (integrated circuit)
device manufacturing customers, who had been capacity-constrained
in our third and fourth quarters, brought on more capacity for advanced
IC's sooner than we had anticipated. As a result, demand for our
high performance polishing slurries increased significantly, and
our organization efficiently responded. Second, during the quarter
our revenue growth outpaced the increase in costs," said Matthew
Neville, Cabot Microelectronics Corporation's president and CEO.
"Our record performance demonstrates the importance of CMP as an
essential part of the production of leading edge IC devices, and
our ability to meet our customers' needs."
During the
quarter, Cabot Microelectronics benefited from revenue growth across
all applications and regions. Gross profit was 52.5% of revenue,
slightly higher than a year ago due to an improved product mix and
increased plant utilization, but in line with recent quarters. "We
have continued to invest in the selling, technical and administrative
areas, resulting in a 46% increase over the prior year. We have
leveraged these investments into a higher rate of sales growth,
thereby resulting in net income increasing to 21% of revenue," stated
Neville.
"We remain
confident about our growth prospects for our 2001 fiscal year. The
outlook for CMP and the production of advanced IC devices remains
strong overall. Last year was a record year for IC unit production,
and particularly strong in the last quarter due to new capacity
additions during that period. We believe the slowing economy in
the last quarter resulted in some increased inventory for certain
end market applications. We expect this to have a short-term effect
as this inventory is reduced to normal levels. In spite of this
anticipated short-term effect, we are raising our expectations slightly
for year over year performance. We anticipate revenue growth in
excess of 50% and earnings between 16% and 18% of revenue, due to
slightly higher growth and slightly lower costs for the overall
year," stated Neville.
"CMP, which
is critical to the manufacture of advanced IC devices, is the fastest
growing sector and the least impacted by cyclical behavior of the
semiconductor industry. Our customers continue to move toward smaller
feature sizes, more layers, and larger wafers, and are ramping new
materials, such as copper damascene. All of these advances drive
the use of more CMP consumables. To anticipate and support our customers'
rapidly growing needs in these areas, we will continue to invest
in capacity and research and development," concluded Neville.
*Pro
Forma Reporting
To provide a consistent basis of comparison, prior year financial
results are presented on a pro forma basis. Certain pro forma adjustments
have been made to present the results as they would have occurred
if certain agreements entered into in connection with our separation
from Cabot Corporation had been in place throughout the prior year.
Cabot Microelectronics Corporation operated as the Microelectronics
Materials Division of Cabot Corporation prior to its initial public
offering on April 4, 2000. The spin-off of Cabot Microelectronics
Corporation from Cabot Corporation was completed on September 29,
2000. See the notes to the statements of income for a list of adjustments.
Conference
Call
Cabot Microelectronics' quarterly earnings conference call will
be held today at 12:00 p.m. Central Time. The live conference call
and a subsequent replay will be available via Webcast at www.cabotcmp.com
or www.streetfusion.com.
For assistance, call 1-630-499-2600.
ABOUT CABOT
MICROELECTRONICS
Cabot Microelectronics Corp., headquartered in Aurora, Ill., is
the leading supplier of CMP slurries for polishing various materials
used in semiconductor manufacturing processes. These products enable
IC manufacturers to make smaller, faster and more complex devices
and improve their production processes. For more information on
Cabot Microelectronics, visit www.cabotcmp.com or call 1-630-499-2600.
Safe Harbor
Statement
This news release may include statements that constitute "forward-looking
statements" within the meaning of federal securities regulations.
These forward-looking statements include statements related to future
sales and operating results, company and industry growth, growth
of this market, new product introductions and development of new
products and technologies by Cabot Microelectronics. These forward-looking
statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties, and other factors,
including those described from time to time in Cabot Microelectronics'
filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), that
could cause the actual results to differ materially from those anticipated
by these forward-looking statements. In particular, see "Risks Related
to our Business" in Management's Discussion and Analysis in our
annual report on Form 10K for the fiscal year ended September 30,
2000 filed with the SEC. Cabot Microelectronics Corporation assumes
no obligation to update this forward-looking information.
STATEMENTS
OF INCOME