Publication of the Final Figures for the Fiscal Year 2015

Publication of the Final Figures for the Fiscal Year 2015

- 2015 sales with EUR 148.5 million at upper end of guidance

- Full year EBIT better than expected: EUR 5.0 million

- Positive Free Cash Flow at EUR 1.3 million

Garching, March 30, 2016 – SUSS MicroTec AG, a leading supplier of equipment and process solutions for the semiconductor industry and related markets, published its consolidated financial statements for the 2015 fiscal year today.

The Company generated sales of EUR 148.5 million (previous year: EUR 145.3 million) in the last fiscal year and booked an order entry of EUR 188.6 million (previous year: EUR 134.3 million). The order backlog amounted to EUR 117.6 million (12/31/2014: EUR 75.6 million). For the fourth quarter the Company expected an increase of order activity from customers, which materialized and lifted the fourth quarter results well above the Company expectations. This was especially remarkable because of the deteriorated situation in the semiconductor industry in the second half of 2015. Order entry came in at EUR 79.7 million (previous year: EUR 44.0 million). Sales of EUR 55.1 million were above the level of the previous year (EUR 50.3 million).

The gross margin remained almost unchanged at 33.3% after 33.6% in 2014.

In the 2015 fiscal year, the Lithography division generated order entry of EUR 149.6 million and sales of EUR 106.3 million. This corresponds to a 63.5% increase in order entry and a 9.9% increase in sales compared to the previous year. The performance of the Substrate Bonder division was subdued with respect to both order entry of EUR 10.5 million (previous year: EUR 17.2 million) and sales of EUR 11.4 million (previous year: EUR 22.4 million). The main reason was the refocusing of the product line permanent bonders. Whereas order entry for permanent bond clusters still amounted to a double-digit million Euro figure in 2014, order entry was almost zero in 2015. The Photomask Equipment division’s order entry and sales levels were slightly better than a year ago. At the end of December 2015, order entry was EUR 21.5 million (previous year: EUR 20.2 million). Division sales amounted to EUR 23.5 million after EUR 20.8 million in 2014.

Earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) came in at EUR 5.0 million – which is once again better than previously expected (previous year: EUR 8.4 million). EBIT for 2015 does not include any material special effects. EBIT for 2014 includes an unexpected income from written-off receivables of EUR 1.3 million. It also includes a provision for severance payments of EUR 1.0 million. The corresponding expense is disclosed under administrative costs. The EBIT-Margin for 2015 reached 3.4% (previous year: 5.8%).

Earnings after taxes (EAT) amounted to EUR 0.2 million, compared to EUR 4.6 million in the previous year. The basic earnings per share (EPS) totaled EUR 0.01 (previous year: EUR 0.24).

The Free Cash Flow for the fiscal year before any security transactions was EUR 1.3 million, compared to EUR 2.1 million in the previous year. Net liquidity increased from EUR 38.0 million to EUR 40.0 million on December 31, 2015.

Outlook
Taking the order backlog at the yearend 2015 and the expected order entry for the first half of 2016 into account, the Company guides sales for the fiscal year to come in between EUR 170 and 180 million. The operating result (EBIT) is expected to be in the bandwidth of EUR 9 to 13 million. For the first quarter 2016 the management board expects an order intake between EUR 25 and 35 million.

About SUSS MicroTec
SUSS MicroTec is a leading supplier of equipment and process solutions for microstructuring in the semiconductor industry and related markets. In close cooperation with research institutes and industry partners SUSS MicroTec contributes to the advancement of next-generation technologies such as 3D Integration and nanoimprint lithography as well as key processes for MEMS and LED manufacturing. With a global infrastructure for applications and service SUSS MicroTec supports more than 8,000 installed systems worldwide. SUSS MicroTec is headquartered in Garching near Munich, Germany.
For more information, please visit http://www.suss.com.

Legal Disclaimer
All statements in this release other than historical facts are forward-looking statements within the meaning of U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as 'believe', 'expect', 'intend', 'anticipate', 'estimate', 'should', 'may', 'will', 'plan' and similar words and terms used in relation to the enterprise are meant to indicate forward-looking statements of this kind. The company accepts no obligation toward the general public to update or correct forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties, as a result of which actual events may diverge numerically from expectations. The forward-looking statements reflect the view at the time they were made.