FREMONT, Calif.--Warning of another substantial layoff by the end of this year, semiconductor equipment supplier Mattson Technology Inc. today reported a net loss of $186.9 million on net sales of $36.6 million. The loss included $127.7 in non-cash charges related to two major acquisitions at the start of the year and a non-cash charge of $21.3 million for excess inventories.
"We now have to complete the difficult task of restructuring our operations to fit the level of business we anticipate in 2002," said David Dutton, acting chief executive officer of Mattson. "We will need to further reduce our fixed costs of production, which will necessitate another substantial reduction in our workforce in the fourth quarter.
"Simultaneously, we are taking significant steps to increase customer satisfaction indicators. In the fourth quarter we anticipate a 10% to 20% increase in bookings, but a revenue decrease of approximately 25% from the third quarter of this year," said Dutton, who took over as acting CEO after company founder Brad Mattson resigned last month (see Oct. 9 story).
Mattson Technology has been hit hard by the current downturn in semiconductor capital spending because the slump came just as the Fremont company was attempting to digest a three-way merger. At the start of 2001, Mattson acquired Steag Electronics Systems AG of Essen, Germany, and CFM Technologies Inc. of Exton, Pa., to expand its tool business into rapid-thermal processing and wet-wafer cleaning (see Jan. 3 story).
But since the acquisitions, Mattson has struggling with losses. In late August, the company said it had initiated a second round of cuts, laying off 20% of its workforce and reducing operating expenses by 30% (see Aug. 24 story).
Including the effects of SAB 101 accounting rules, Mattson Technology's third-quarter net sales sequentially declined 49% from $71.4 million in Q2. The sales were 24% lower than $48.3 million in the same period last year.
Mattson's bookings in the third quarter were $25.0 million, a decrease of 47% from $45.8 million in Q2. The company's book-to-bill ratio was at 0.37 in the third quarter. The company's backlog stood at $113.5 million at the end of the Q3.
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