Corning - indirekt zu 25% an Hemlock beteiligt (Seite 13)

[meinolf67]

27.01.2009 13:13
Corning Announces Fourth-Quarter Results

Plans restructuring actions in first quarter 2009

Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW) today announced results for the fourth quarter and full year 2008, along with the company’s planned restructuring actions.

Fourth-Quarter Highlights

* Sales were $1.1 billion, down about 30% both sequentially and year over year.
* Earnings per share were $0.16. Excluding special items, earnings per share were $0.13*, down about 70% both sequentially and year over year.
* Display Technologies’ combined LCD glass volume, including Corning’s wholly owned business and Samsung Corning Precision Glass Co., Ltd. (SCP), was down 35% sequentially and 28% year over year. Volume in the company’s wholly owned business was down about 50% sequentially and year over year, while volume at SCP was down 26% sequentially and only 4% year over year.
* Gross margin was 28%, reflecting lower volumes in all segments and the cost of capacity reductions.
* At the end of the fourth quarter the company had $2.8 billion in cash and short-term investments, $1.2 billion greater than debt.

Full-Year Highlights

* Sales were $5.9 billion, up 1.5% from 2007.
* Earnings per share were $3.32. Excluding special items, earnings per share were $1.53*, up 9% versus 2007.
* Display Technologies’ combined LCD glass volume was up 14%, including volume increases of 1% in the wholly owned business and 28% at SCP. Price declines were approximately 8% in both the wholly owned business and at SCP.

Quarter Four Financial Comparisons
Q4 2008 Q3 2008 % Change Q4 2007 % Change
Net Sales in millions $1,084 $1,555 (30%) $1,582 (31%)
Net Income in millions $249 $768 (68%) $717 (65%)
Non-GAAP Net Income

in millions*
$208 $732 (72%) $643 (68%)
GAAP EPS $0.16 $0.49 (67%) $0.45 (64%)
Non-GAAP EPS* $0.13 $0.46 (72%) $0.40 (68%)

*These are non-GAAP financial measures. The reconciliation between GAAP and non-GAAP measures is provided in the tables following this news release, as well as on the company’s investor relations website.

Restructuring Plans

* Planned corporate-wide restructuring actions will result in first-quarter charges in the range of $115 million to $165 million pretax, in addition to the fourth-quarter restructuring charges of $22 million. About 90% of the charge is for cash termination benefits, most of which will be paid in 2009. Certain of Corning’s equity companies are also evaluating restructuring actions in the first quarter.
* In total, Corning plans to reduce its workforce by about 3,500 employees, or 13%, before the end of the year. About 1,500 of the reductions are salaried employees. The company is also in the process of reducing more than 1,400 temporary workers.
* The restructuring program will include a selective early retirement program, global workforce reductions and consolidation of manufacturing facilities. The company also suspended merit increases for its salaried employees.
* Annualized savings of $150 million to $200 million are expected as a result of the restructuring actions.

”We experienced a significant momentum shift in many of our core businesses in the fourth quarter as the recession took hold,” Wendell P. Weeks, chairman and chief executive officer, said. ”As a result, we are adjusting our operations to reflect anticipated lower sales in 2009. We are also moving aggressively to reduce operating expenses and capital spending to continue to meet our goals of positive free cash flow and a healthy balance sheet.”

Fourth-Quarter Segment Results

Sales in the Display Technologies segment were $390 million, down 44% sequentially and 50% year over year. This significant decline resulted primarily from the supply chain’s inventory reduction and lower retail sales of LCD products. Sequential price declines were slightly higher than the previous quarter. Positive foreign exchange rate movements partially offset the volume declines.

Telecommunications segment sales were $405 million, down 18% sequentially and 6% compared to the fourth quarter of 2007.

Environmental Technologies segment sales were $128 million, down 28% sequentially and 32% year over year. Fourth-quarter sales of automotive products declined sharply reflecting the global decline in the automotive industry. Heavy-duty diesel sales remained weak.

Corning’s equity earnings from Dow Corning Corporation (News) were $86 million, down sequentially as the recession began to impact the demand for silicone products, but up slightly year over year.

Looking Forward

James B. Flaws, vice chairman and chief financial officer, said, ”We anticipate a slow start to 2009 with first-quarter combined display volume down 20% to 25% as the supply chain continues to reduce inventory during the seasonally weaker retail sales quarter. As we announced last December, we will also have high-single-digit price declines in the first quarter. As a result, sales, gross margin and net income will be sequentially lower. We expect earnings per share*, before special items, to be about break-even in the first quarter.”

”On the other hand, recent news about the display supply chain and end market is encouraging. Retail sales of LCD TV were stronger in December than we anticipated and this trend is continuing into early January. We estimate that the display supply chain has reduced total inventory levels to be close to year-end 2007 levels. This reduction, while painful for us in the fourth quarter, moves us closer to the day that glass demand rebounds. We are currently anticipating a significant increase in glass demand in the second quarter.

”During these tough times, our three priorities are preserving cash, restructuring the company to be profitable at a lower sales level, and accelerating new products while maintaining our focus on long-term growth opportunities,” he said.

The company is concentrating on its short-term growth opportunities by investing in Gen 10 LCD manufacturing, extending its bend-insensitive ClearCurve® optical fiber products into new markets, introducing next-generation advanced diesel engine substrates and filters, expanding applications for its Gorilla™ glass and pursuing new initiatives in thin-film photovoltaics.

As previously announced, the company has reduced its 2009 capital spending to $1.1 billion, of which about $525 million relates to construction completed in 2008. ”We have a goal of being free cash flow positive for the year, but expect our first-half free cash flow to be negative,” he said.

Flaws said that Corning is sizing the company’s cost structure for about $5 billion of sales in 2009. ”This level is above our first-quarter run rate and reflects our belief that the display supply chain contraction will end in the second quarter. If we do not see this improvement, we will consider further consolidation of manufacturing facilities and additional workforce reductions.”

Flaws concluded by noting that, ”despite the current impact of the global recession, we remain well positioned in our core businesses for the long term. This recession will end. The exact timing is difficult to predict but we know that the world is not going backwards. Optical fiber solutions will continue to replace older copper lines and LCD televisions are making CRT models obsolete. And stronger environmental regulations will soon be taking effect. Demand for our products will increase as the economy improves.”

Corning will provide more information on its 2009 outlook at its annual investor relations meeting in New York on Friday, Feb. 6 at 9 a.m. ET at the Times Center. Attendees can register online at the company’s investor relations web site. The company also will be presenting at the Thomas Weisel Telecom and Technology Conference on Feb. 10 in San Francisco.

Fourth-Quarter Conference Call Information

The company will host a fourth-quarter conference call on Tuesday, Jan. 27 at 8:30 a.m. ET. To access the call, dial [phone] or international access call [phone] approximately 10-15 minutes prior to the start of the call. The password is ‘Corning Incorporated Quarter Four Results’. The host is ‘SOFIO’. To listen to a live audio webcast of the call, go to Corning’s website at www.corning.com/investor_relations and follow the instructions. A replay will be available beginning at 10:30 a.m. ET and will run through 5:00 p.m. ET, Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2009. To listen, dial [phone] or international access call [phone]. The access code is 981250. The webcast will be archived for one year following the call.

Presentation of Information in this News Release

Non-GAAP financial measures are not in accordance with, or an alternative to, GAAP. Corning’s non-GAAP net income and EPS measures exclude restructuring, impairment and other charges and adjustments to prior estimates for such charges. Additionally, the company’s non-GAAP measures exclude adjustments to asbestos settlement reserves, gains and losses arising from debt retirements, charges or credits arising from adjustments to the valuation allowance against deferred tax assets, equity method charges resulting from impairments of equity method investments or restructuring, impairment or other charges taken by equity method companies and gains from discontinued operations. The company believes presenting non-GAAP net income and EPS measures is helpful to analyze financial performance without the impact of unusual items that may obscure trends in the company’s underlying performance. These non-GAAP measures are reconciled on the company’s Web site at www.corning.com/investor_relations and accompany this news release.

[meinolf67]

Dow Corning, Hemlock To Invest Up To $3 Billion In Polysilicon Growth12-15-08 12:41 PM EST | E-mail Article | Print Article

NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- Despite the recession, Dow Corning Corp. and Hemlock Semiconductor LLC plan to invest up to $3 billion in new polysilicon manufacturing in Michigan and Tennessee to serve customers in the solar industry.
Separately, Dow Corning will begin producing monosilane gas that is used to make thin-film solar panels and liquid crystal displays in a facility adjacent to the polysilicon factory in Hemlock, Mich.

(This story also appeared in Clean Technology Insight, a daily newsletter and information service published by Dow Jones & Co.)

The companies will invest $1.2 billion to add 10,000 metric tons of annual production to their polysilicon factory in Hemlock, which currently has 19,000 tons of capacity. They will also start building a new polysilicon factory in Clarksville, Tenn., which will have up to 13,000 tons in capacity for an investment of as much as $1 billion. That factory could be expanded to up to 21, 000 tons of annual production.

Construction on all projects will start immediately, the companies said.

"When the global markets are down, we view that as actually the time for the strongest companies to step forward," said Rick Doornbos, president and chief executive officer of Hemlock, in an interview.

The move is also significant as the solar industry is entering what many observers expect to be an oversupply of polysilicon, with many new Chinese manufacturers adding capacity even as demand for solar panels is suffering because of the economic downturn. Polysilicon, which has been scarce and registered very high prices, has lost about 40% of its price over the past month or so. Hemlock and Dow, however, are pursuing a wide expansion in polysilicon production.

"We believe that long term trends in the solar industry continue to be very attractive," said Doornbos.

The companies committed to make the $2.2 billion "initial investment" in the additional polysilicon production, Doornbos said. Further investment will depend on market conditions and could reach a total of $3 billion.

Hemlock is a privately held company, in which Dow Corning holds a 63% stake, with the remaining 24.5% in the hands of Shin-Etsu Handotai Co. and 12.25% belonging to Mitsubishi Materials Corp. (5711.TO). The companies declined to specify how much of the financing will come from Dow Corning, which itself is jointly owned by Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) and Corning Inc. (GLW). The companies are already in the middle of a $1 billion expansion in polysilicon production that was announced in May.

"Hemlock and its customers will be sharing the financing costs," said Gary Homan, vice president of sales and marketing for Hemlock, in an interview. He declined to go into detail, but it is common in the solar business for buyers of polysilicon to make prepayments, which the manufacturer uses toward production expansion. "Outside capital will be involved, but much of the costs will be shared. The majority will be handled this way," Homan said.

The additional capacity in Michigan will come online by the end of 2010 or in early 2011, Doornbos said. It will require 800 workers for construction and about 300 to run the plant permanently. The Tennessee plant, although it will be started concurrently, will take longer to develop, as it is on a green site. Production there will be ready in early 2012, according to Doornbos. The companies expect that 1,000 construction workers will build the plant, which will later employ up to 800.

The company is projecting that by helping its customers to procure polysilicon in bulk and at cheaper prices, the industry will be able to move to a point where solar energy costs as much as fossil-fueled power, what the industry refers to as "grid parity." At that point the market demand could explode once again and manufacturing take off. Hemlock executives said that the expansion plans are driven by customer demand and interest in placing additional orders.

"We are confident that over the next several years major solar manufacturers will in fact have reached parity relative to fossil-based power. We are preparing for what we believe is a very rapidly expanding solar industry once grid parity is achieved," said Homan. He added that his assessment comes from having seen the cost projections of Hemlock's main customers.

The Tennessee location for the new plant reflects the companies' view that solar manufacturing in the U.S. will take off.

"With the current environment in the U.S., with the green movement that's underway, there will be a significant increase in sales [for Hemlock] into the U.S. market," Homan said. "And not only Hemlock. Our major customers that are based overseas are evaluating moving to manufacture in the U.S." Today Hemlock's primary markets are in Europe and Asia. The company declined to break out how much it ships where.

The companies evaluated more than a dozen sites globally for two years, according to the executives. "We ended up choosing the location in Tennessee for a variety of reasons," said Doornbos, "including access to very attractive energy costs, the overall business climate, access to a quality labor pool and financial incentives that were offered" by the local government. Electricity costs are especially important for the companies as polysilicon production consumes a lot of power.

Equipment for Hemlock is made by outside manufacturers to its own specifications. Doornbos declined to say who will provide the additional reactors and other machines necessary for the expansion.

Dow Corning's move into silane production comes as the thin-film industry is growing rapidly. Currently Oslo-based Renewable Energy Corp. is the main producer of silane gas. That company noted recently that demand has driven prices of silane up. "This is new for Dow Corning, as we don't currently provide those materials on the merchant market," said Jarrod Erpelding, Dow Corning spokesman, in an e-mail.

Dow Corning provides many other materials to the solar market, including metallurgical-grade silicon, coatings and encapsulants for solar cells, and sealants for solar module frames.

-By Yuliya Chernova, Dow Jones Newsletters; [e-mail]

[meinolf67]

nix Neues zu SI

[stupidgame]

Antwort auf Beitrag Nr.: 35.004.264 von meinolf67 am 05.09.08 23:00:30

Hallo meinolf!

Grüss Dich mal wieder.
Ich verfolge Corning erst seit relativ kurzer Zeit. Auch nur über Umwege. Weil mich eigentlich ein anderer Wert aus der Display-Branche interessiert.
Ich denke, Corning`s Kursentwicklung selber hängt zum grossen Teil von der Konjunktur auf dem Sektor ab. Und dort gibt es noch keine Entwarnung. Es haben jetzt etliche gewarnt. Man muss die Zahlen fürs laufende Quartal anschauen und vor allen den Ausblick für Q4. Ich denke, frühestens zum Jahreswechsel geht hier wieder was. Weihnachtsgeschäft? Vielleicht versucht der Markt das zu zocken. Es dürfte aber eher nicht so toll ausfallen.
News über Besserung der Lage sollten, wie beim Chip-Sektor auch z.B., aus Asien kommen. Insbesondere aus Taiwan. Das sind die Trendsetter. Also z.B. LG Display.

Wer sich für den Sektor interessiert und auf dem laufenden bleiben will - langfristig wird der für die nächsten Jahre als Boombranche gesehen (Flachbildschirme / HDTV / Digitales Fernsehen), dem kann ich besonders 2 Links empfehlen.

http://www.displaybank.com/eng/common/

http://www.digitimes.com/310.asp

Bessere Infoquellen, mal abgesehen von den Firmennews, habe ich noch nicht gefunden.
Ach ja, mein Favorit ist übrigens Himax Technologies (NASDAQ: HIMX). Aber auch da gilt, aktuell noch vorsichtig sein.

Schönes WE
s.

[meinolf67]

Corning: Looking Very Cheap
by: Steve Patterson posted on: September 05, 2008 | about stocks: GLW

Corning Inc (NYSE:GLW) continues to slide reaching a new 52 week low today after being downgraded by RBC Capital Corp and cutting their third quarter outlook yesterday. But the current price/earnings ratio is too low for a company with the earnings and revenue growth displayed.

Third Quarter Troubles

The company reduced their third quarter outlook citing weak LCD display demand although consumers continue to buy televisions containing their LCD glass. The company felt manufacturers are reducing inventory instead of making new television sets. The new company range for quarterly earnings is between 43 and 45 cents. Analysts have been expecting 50 cents a share from the specialty glass maker but reduced that number to 47 cents after the company’s announcement.

Looking Very Cheap

The stock fell 2% today after a Wednesday decline of 12%. At a current price/earnings (P/E) ratio of 4.8 investors are anticipating continued demand trouble as the current estimates are for very strong growth of 32.6% year over year. With 13.5% revenue growth for the year, the current stock price of $16.68 looks very cheap.

The Trade

You could wait for the stock to bottom out and make a move to the upside before buying a little for a longer term hold. If the earnings and revenue continue to be in the double-digit growth range and the P/E continues to be in the single-digit area, the stock will be a good buy.

Disclosure: No position

[meinolf67]

...über Dow-Corning zu 50% die wiederum zu 50% an Hemlock halten.

Gebe zu, daß das recht indirekt ist, aber immerhin ist Hemlock der Marktführer für Poly-SI und wenn man über diesen Weg die eine oder andere Info rechtzeitig mitkriegt kann das interessant sein.


Und evtl. kommt der Wert sogar aufgrund eigenen Geschäfts für eine Anlage in Frage.