ASML, the Dutch supplier of equipment to key chip makers, reported a better-than-expected net profit for the fourth quarter as several customers asked for early delivery of products amid a booming semiconductor industry. The world's biggest maker of lithography systems said on Wednesday its outlook for 2018 was bolstered by a growing backlog of orders. Profit for the quarter ended December rose to 644 million euros ($788.32 million) from 524 million euros a year earlier. Analysts polled for Reuters had expected profit of 454 million euros.
Sales of 2.56 billion euros were well ahead of the company's own forecast of 2.1 billion euros, and ASML said it saw net sales of 2.2 billion euros in the first quarter of 2018. ASML's lithography machines, which can cost 100 million euros apiece, help chipmakers lay out the circuitry of ever-smaller chips that go into computers, phones, servers and memory devices.
ASML is increasingly dominating its nearest rival in lithography, Japan's Nikon. "ASML generated record sales and net income in 2017, helped by a strong fourth quarter. Due to industry strength, some customers requested earlier shipments of their lithography systems," CEO Peter Wennink said in a statement.
"For 2018 we expect continued solid growth of sales and profitability." Separately, ASML said it appointed Roger Dassen as new CFO to replace Wolfgang Nickl, who is leaving in April to become CFO of Germany's Bayer. Dassen is a former head of accountancy firm Deloitte in the Netherlands.
The company's order backlog grew to 6.7 billion euros, from 5.7 billion euros at the end of September. That includes 10 orders of its newest, most expensive machine. Wennink said the company would propose an annual dividend of 1.40 euros in 2017 from 1.20 euros in 2016, and a share buyback programme of 2.5 billion euros over the 2018-2019 period. ASML only completed 900 million euros of its previous 1.5 billion euro buyback program.
The company did not address questions of whether the flaws found in Intel and other computer chips at the start of the year could force those companies to accelerate their building plans.
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