FREMONT, Calif. -- When it rains, it pours. A bookkeeping error at Mattson Technology Inc. has caused the fab equipment supplier to lower its reported second-quarter revenue from $82.0 million to $71.4 million. The revision won't impact Mattson's net loss of $33.1 million for Q2 because it involved intercompany revenue transactions, the company said.

But with the downward revision of revenues, Mattson is now expecting a sequential gain in sales during the current fiscal quarter. The company is sticking with its previous guidance of Q3 revenues in the $75-to-$80 million range, which will be 5-to-11% increase over the lower Q2 sales figure.

"The revisions being announced today result from regrettable errors and do not reflect any change in the status of the company's products, its business model or its revenue recognition policy," said Ludger Viefhues, chief financial officer at Mattson.

The CFO also said Mattson continues to negotiate with Steag Electronics Systems AG of Essen, Germany, in regards to an extension of $45 million due the German company in conjunction with the acquisition of the Steag's semiconductor operations. At the start of this year, Mattson acquired that business and CFM Technologies Inc. of Exton, Pa., in a three-way merger to dramatically increase its size Jan. 3 story. But then the worst downturn in semiconductor history clobbered the capital equipment market and Mattson's growth plans.

The Fremont supplier of fab tools announced it was tightening its belt another notch in August with plans to increase its layoffs in the U.S. to 30% of its workforce as it struggles to bring costs in line with lower-than-expected revenues

Silicon Strategies

-- Anonymous, September 07, 2001