BTU reports Q1 2005 results

BTU International, Inc. (Nasdaq NM: BTUI) announced its financial results for the first quarter ended April 3, 2005.
 
Net sales for the quarter were $12.8 million, up 13 percent compared to $11.3 million for the first quarter of 2004, and compared to sales of $13.6 million in the preceding quarter.

Net income for the 2005 first quarter was in line with the company's guidance at $167,000, or $0.02 per share, compared to a net loss of $980,000, or $0.14 per share, reported in the first quarter of 2004, and compared to a net income of $70,000, or $0.01 per share, in the preceding quarter.

Commenting on the company's first quarter performance, Paul J. van der Wansem, chairman and CEO, said, "We are making good progress in the globalization of our company, including our China operations, which are beginning to have a positive impact on our results. We also made further progress in reducing our inventories and increasing our efficiencies. As a result, even though sales for the quarter were slightly below our expectations, we generated on-target earnings. Margins in the first quarter were aided by both lower costs and a favorable product mix, which included several higher-end systems for semiconductor packaging and advanced materials processing."

Outlook
"Although visibility is limited and we are seeing cautious behavior in capital spending, we expect to see sales in the second quarter up as compared to the first quarter, in the range of $13-14 million. We also expect to continue on our path of profitability. Sales will be driven primarily by increased business from wafer level packaging applications and from reflow systems used in lead-free printed circuit board assembly," said Van der Wansem. "We estimate that up to 30 percent of previous generation solder reflow systems will likely be replaced within the next one to two years because these older systems cannot meet the more stringent requirements for lead-free processing. Our Pyramax family of systems is well positioned to take advantage of this market need."

Teleconference and Simultaneous Webcast
BTU will discuss its financial results, along with its outlook for the second quarter of 2005, in a conference call to be held today, Friday, April 22, at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time.  A live webcast of the conference call will be available on BTU's website at www.btu.com or at www.streetevents.com.  Replays of the call will be available through May 6, 2005, and can be accessed at these websites or by phone at (800) 938-2376.