Rofin-Sinar subsidiaries take on partners
Rofin-Baasel Espana S.A., a Spanish subsidiary of Rofin-Sinar Technologies Inc. (RSTI; Hamburg, Germany, and Plymouth, MI), has acquired 80% of the stock of Z-Laser S.A. (Pamplona, Spain) in a cash transaction of undisclosed terms. "The acquisition of Z-Laser streamlines and strengthens our position in the Iberian market, where the use of lasers for materials processing is not as well-established as in other European countries," stated Peter Wirth, chairman and CEO of RSTI. Another RSTI subsidiary, Rofin-Sinar UK Ltd., has signed a distribution agreement with IMAJE S.A. (Bourg-Les-Valence, France) for global distribution of ROFIN's dot-matrix laser marking product. The partnership also covers future technical cooperation for the design and continuing development of laser-based coding systems.
Cree expects 10% to 15% dip in revenues
Cree Inc. (Durham, NC) has reaffirmed its third-quarter fiscal year 2001 targets for earnings and revenue, while reducing revenue and earnings targets for the fourth quarter by 10% to 15% below third-quarter levels, due to "an increasingly competitive and slowing market for LED chips." The company expects sequential growth to resume in the second quarter of fiscal 2002, however, with an improvement in general economic conditions and a rapid employment of the company's LED product improvement in new designs. "With the strength in our balance sheet, we can continue to focus on those elements that provide the greatest leverage over the long term," said CEO Neal Hunter.
Cymer revenues to go down about 10%
Cymer Inc. (San Diego, CA) has revised its outlook for the first quarter and full year 2001, lowering its projections for total revenue between 5% and 10% below fourth-quarter and full-year 2000 levels, respectively. "Our strategy as always will be to manage costs, enhance efficiencies, and continue to invest in new product development," said Bob Akins, chairman and CEO. "In the second quarter of this year we expect to ship our new NanoLith 7000 ArF 4-kHz light source for 193-nm lithography, and later this year we plan to ship advanced F2 and extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) light sources as well. With the semiconductor industry contracting, we believe the emphasis will turn even more to leading-edge process development and the enabling products."
Nova Crystals expands to meet demand
Nova Crystals (San Jose, CA) has secured a new 40,000-sq. ft. building that will expand the company's production-floor space fivefold and enable the high-volume production of long-wavelength VCSELs for short-to-long-haul, high-bandwidth telecommunications. Additionally, the acquisition includes approximately $10 million in production equipment and a team of a dozen engineers. "We're already experiencing tremendous demand for our proprietary VCSEL-based products," noted Felix Ejeckam, CEO of Nova Crystals. "This expansion will enable us to meet this rising demand and provide a high level of service."
Also in the news . . .
Semiconductor Laser International (SLI; Binghamton, NY) announced today that it has entered into an agreement with Finova Capital Corp. (Phoenix, AZ) that calls for a three-year payout of SLI's current equipment-leasing obligations of approximately $1,200,000 and will enable SLI to reduce its monthly financial obligations by approximately $50,000. The agreement is conditioned upon the receipt by SLI of a $2-million equity infusion, or loan from a third party, on or before April 28, 2001. . . . GSI Lumonics Inc. (Kanata, Ont., Canada) posted fourth-quarter results that were in line with a recent earnings warning it issued that sales would fall 5% below expectations because of a restructuring in its auto products unit. Revenues for the period ended December 31 were $95.5 million. Sales in the same period last year were $88.7 million.
Hassaun A. Jones-Bey