Growth in revenues, gross margin and net income
MIGDAL HAEMEK, Israel – May 15, 2008 – Camtek Ltd. (NASDAQ: CAMT and TASE: CAMT), today announced its financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2008.
The Company reported revenues for the first quarter of $21.3 million, an increase of 47% over the $14.5 million reported in the first quarter of last year and a slight increase sequentially from the $21.0 million reported in the fourth quarter of 2007.
Gross profit margin for the first quarter of 2008 improved to 44.5%, as compared to 41.5% for the first quarter of 2007, and 43.7% for the fourth quarter of 2007.
Operating income for the first quarter of 2008 was $114 thousand (0.5% of revenues), compared with an operating loss of $4.3 million in the first quarter of 2007 and an operating income of $126 thousand (0.6% of revenues) in the prior quarter.
The Company’s profitability was affected by strong devaluation of the US dollar against the Israeli shekel in the first quarter of 2008, which increased Israelbased shekel costs in dollar terms. However, the company hedged its dollar/shekel exposure and subsequently reported increased financial income which compensated for the increase in expenses due to the devaluation of the dollar.
Financial income in the quarter of $467 thousand, compared with $133 thousand in the first quarter of 2007 and $66 thousand in the prior quarter.
Net income for the first quarter of 2008 was $493 thousand, or $0.02 per diluted share. This is compared to a net loss of $4.3 million, or $0.14 per share, in the first quarter of 2007. For the previous quarter in 2007, net income was $247 thousand, or $0.01 per diluted share.
The Company reported a positive operating cash flow of $307 thousand in the quarter. As of March 31st, 2008, the Company reported a net cash and equivalents of $20.7 million as compared with $20.0 million at December 31st, 2007.
“We are satisfied with our first quarter results, especially with the increase in profitability and positive cash flow”, commented Rafi Amit, Camtek’s CEO. “We maintained our revenues at similar level to that of the last two quarters in spite of the on-going macroeconomic situation and the weakness of the electronic industry. Our activity in the PCB sector has been stable, while we recorded a slight increase in revenues from the semiconductors manufacturing and packaging industry. We attribute this growth to technology-driven demand for our wafer inspection systems.
Mr. Amit continued, “Following our continuous investment in R&D, we have recently introduced three new lines of inspection systems: Planet, for ultra-fine line PCB panels; Mustang for finished boards of mobile products; and Falcon 1000, enhanced performance wafer inspection systems. Products from all the new lines have already been sold to customers.
“At the same time, we continue to look for additional growth opportunities – both internal and external – in related markets into which we can leverage our technologies and global organization.”
Mr. Amit concluded, “We expect second quarter revenues at a similar level to that of the current quarter, between $20 and 22 million.”
The Company also announced the appointment of Roy Porat to the newly created position of General Manager at the Company’s headquarters in Israel. Roy’s previous role was President of Camtek HK, where he oversaw all of Camtek’s activities in Asia. Aharon Sela, previously VP of Sales at Camtek Europe, was appointed to replace Mr. Porat in Camtek HK.
Conference call
Camtek will host a conference call today, May 15, at 9:00am ET. Rafi Amit, Chief executive Officer, and Ronit Dulberg, Chief Financial Officer will host the call and will be available to answer questions after presenting the results.
To participate, please call one of the following telephone numbers at least 10 minutes before the start of the call, referencing the “Camtek results conference call”.
US toll free: 1 888 935 4577 at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time
Israel toll free: 1 809 246 002 at 4:00 p.m. Israel Time
International: +1 718 354 1389
For those unable to participate, the teleconference will be available for replay on Camtek’s website www.camtek.co.il beginning 24 hours after the call.
Upcoming presentations
Camtek’s management will be presenting at a number of upcoming industry and investor events:
- Oppenheimer Investor Conference in Tel Aviv, Israel on May 18
- IEEE SW TEST in San Diego between June 8-11
- Semicon West in San Francisco – Yield Management session on July
15 and Test session on July 17
Should you like to schedule a meeting with management, please contact Camtek’s investor relations team.
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