ams reports positive third quarter results with revenues in upper half of guidance range; sees softer demand patterns influencing fourth quarter

Key financial data for the third quarter 2015

Unterpremstaetten, Austria (26 October 2015) - ams (SIX: AMS), a leading worldwide provider of high performance sensor and analog solutions, reports positive third quarter 2015 results with revenues in the upper half of the guidance range and year-on-year growth in revenues and earnings. For the fourth quarter 2015, ams sees softer demand patterns in consumer and non-consumer markets influencing revenue development at expected stable gross margin.

Third quarter group revenues were EUR 153.0 million, increasing 15% year-on-year from EUR 132.8 million in the same quarter 2014 and decreasing 10% quarter-on-quarter. On a constant currency basis, third quarter revenues were 2% higher compared to the third quarter last year.

In the third quarter, gross margin remained unchanged from the previous quarter at 56% excluding acquisition-related costs and 54% including acquisition-related costs, compared to 57% and 55% respectively, in the same quarter 2014.

The result from operations (EBIT) excluding acquisition-related costs for the third quarter was EUR 38.0 million or 25% of revenues, increasing slightly from EUR 37.4 million in the same period 2014. The result from operations (EBIT) including acquisition-related costs for the third quarter was EUR 35.1 million or 23% of revenues, up 2% from EUR 34.5 million in the same period 2014. This development reflects the addition of R&D resources including the recent acquisition of the CMOS environmental sensor business.

The net result for the third quarter was EUR 34.0 million compared to EUR 31.9 million in the same period last year. Basic and diluted earnings per share were CHF 0.54/0.52 or EUR 0.49/0.47 based on 68,935,827/71,718,080 shares (basic/diluted; weighted average) compared to CHF 0.57/0.54 or EUR 0.47/0.45 for the third quarter 2014 based on 68,071,765/70,796,466 shares (basic/diluted; weighted average).

Operating cash flow for the third quarter was EUR 34.5 million, up from EUR 33.7 million in the third quarter last year. Total backlog on September 30, 2015 (excluding consignment stock agreements) was EUR 101.4 million given customer order behavior in the current environment with current backlog on a comparable level, compared to EUR 133.3 million at the end of the second quarter and EUR 119.8 million on September 30, 2014.

ams’ business performed well in the third quarter of 2015 taking into account a more cautious demand environment and customer behavior, particularly in the consumer market.

ams’ consumer and communications business saw a good performance in the third quarter, particularly driven by the company’s light sensor, gesture sensor, and wireless product areas. ams’ portfolio of intelligent light sensors for leading consumer and smartphone OEMs continues to ship at high run rates including support for new devices. The company’s gesture sensor solution combining gesture recognition with RGB color, proximity sensing and other functions is seeing ongoing high volume shipments into multiple device platforms. ams also began shipping cost-efficient light sensor solutions based on its proprietary TSV technology in volume.

ams announced its first generation biosensor AS7000 in the quarter and has seen first shipments into a wearable application for a personal wristband. The new product offers high quality heart rate measurement for wearable devices and supports the implementation of heart rate variability (HRV) applications with meaningful accuracy when compared to existing offerings. Following the company’s multi-year roadmap for innovative high value biosensors with significantly more sophisticated functionality, ams expects to announce a second generation biosensor offering novel capabilities in the coming six months, based on current information.

In other product lines, ams saw continued volume shipments to support leading vendors’ devices with its high performance analog products. In audio solutions, ams announced the adoption of its low-power ANC noise cancellation technology by another major smartphone OEM for bundled in-box earphones. High volume shipments of ams’ boosted NFC solution continued ensuring reliable transactions in space-constrained devices such as smartphones and wearables.

ams’ industrial, medical, and automotive businesses were again successful in a more cautious market environment in the third quarter. For its industrial end markets, ams provides differentiated high value sensor and sensor interface solutions to leading industrial OEMs, powering a broad range of position sensing and automation applications while sampling the first generation of sensor-based LED lighting control. In its medical business ams continues to focus on digital imaging sensor solutions for advanced computed tomography (CT), digital X-ray and mammography. The company’s automotive business performed well in the quarter and is strongly positioned for major automotive trends requiring higher sensor content for advanced driver assistance/LIDAR collision avoidance, position sensing, and battery power management.

For the fourth quarter 2015, ams sees softer demand patterns in consumer and non-consumer markets as well as customer-specific effects influencing its business and therefore expects revenues of EUR 137-142 million, based on current exchange rates and available information. At the same time, ams anticipates gross margin profitability in the fourth quarter to remain stable compared to the third quarter while operating profitability is expected to be sequentially lower reflecting the revenue development and comparable R&D investments supporting critical sensor solution strategies.

ams is confident about the strong revenue and earnings potential of its business driven by new sensor and analog technologies for innovative applications in the consumer, smartphone and non-consumer markets, based on available information. ams is continuing to evaluate further additions to its sensor technologies portfolio to broaden the scope of its high value solutions. ams’ leading position in sensor solutions aligns with its full project pipeline and identified opportunities for revenue and earnings growth over the coming years towards ams’ 2019 revenue goal of EUR 1bn.