EANS-Adhoc: ams AG / ams pre-announces fourth quarter 2014 revenues exceeding guidance at EUR 139.0 million, first quarter 2015 revenues expected to grow quarter-on-quarter and a fourth quarter 2014 o

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Financial Figures/Balance Sheet/Pre-announcement
19.01.2015

Unterpremstaetten, Austria (19 January 2015) - ams (SIX: AMS), a
leading worldwide manufacturer of high performance sensor and analog
solutions, pre-announces fourth quarter 2014 revenues of EUR 139.0
million, above the upper end of revenue guidance of EUR 133-138
million, and first quarter 2015 revenues expected to grow
quarter-on-quarter contrary to typical seasonality. At the same time,
ams sees fourth quarter 2014 operating profitability impacted by a
faster-than-expected addition of over 40 design engineers and an
additional design center as well as two one-time effects. As a
consequence, fourth quarter 2014 operating (EBIT) margin is expected
to be around 23%, below previously communicated guidance.

Realizing the planned expansion of engineering resources to cover a
full multi-year project pipeline earlier than expected, ams has
successfully added more than 40 design engineers and a design center
in Japan already in the fourth quarter 2014. The resulting increase
in R&D expenses together with usual project-related quarterly R&D
expense movements is expected to account for about half of the
expected margin differential. The two one-time effects, which are
each expected to account for about a quarter of the expected margin
differential, are certain additional supplier costs in the fourth
quarter 2014 to satisfy very strong customer demand for ams' consumer
solutions and an exceptional one-time customer-related write-off
resulting from a product improvement for an Asian customer.

For the first quarter 2015, ams expects revenues to grow
quarter-on-quarter in strong contrast to typical sector seasonality
with first quarter revenues expected up to 5% higher compared to the
fourth quarter 2014. This expectation is based on a confirmed total
order backlog of EUR 131.3 million at 31 December 2014 (30 September
2014: EUR 119.8 million; 31 December 2013: EUR 76.6 million).

ams will publish its complete fourth quarter and full year 2014
results including first quarter 2015 guidance on 3 February 2015 at
7.15 am CET as previously communicated.

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about ams

ams is a global leader in the design and manufacture of advanced
sensor solutions and analog ICs. Our mission is to shape the world
with sensor solutions by providing a seamless interface between
humans and technology.

ams' high-performance analog products drive applications requiring
extreme precision, dynamic range, sensitivity, and ultra-low power
consumption. Products include sensors, sensor interfaces, power
manage-ment and wireless ICs for consumer, communications,
industrial, medical, and automotive markets.

With headquarters in Austria, ams employs over 1,600 people globally
and serves more than 8,000 customers worldwide. ams is listed on the
SIX Swiss stock exchange (ticker symbol: AMS). More information about
ams can be found at www.ams.com.

Further inquiry note:
Moritz M. Gmeiner
Director Investor Relations
Tel: +43 3136 500-31211
Fax: +43 3136 500-931211
Email: investor@ams.com

end of announcement euro adhoc
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issuer: ams AG
Tobelbader Strasse 30
A-8141 Unterpremstaetten
phone: +43 3136 500-0
FAX: +43 3136 500-931211
mail: investor@ams.com
WWW: www.ams.com
sector: Technology
ISIN: AT0000A18XM4
indexes:
stockmarkets:
language: English