Photon Control Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2019 Financial Results - Seite 2

Operating expenses for the three months ended December 31, 2019 decreased by 15% to $2.6 million compared to $3.1 million for the three months ended September 30, 2019, with the decrease primarily attributable to lower staffing costs due to headcount vacancies and additional investment tax credits for research and development activities. Operating expenses of $2.6 million for the quarter decreased from $3.1 million in the fourth quarter of 2018. For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2019, operating expenses were $12.8 million compared to $13.1 million in 2018, with the decrease being attributable to a reorganization of the sales and marketing function and cost reduction measures realized on the general and administrative function in response to the cyclical nature of the semiconductor industry, offset by the costs to support new product development and investments in disruptive technologies.

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¹  See “Non-GAAP Performance Measures”

Net income for the quarter was $0.7 million or $0.01 per share compared to $1.5 million or $0.01 per share for the third quarter of 2019, and $2.7 million or $0.03 per share for the comparable period of 2018. Fiscal year 2019 net income was $2.4 million or $0.02 per share versus $10.7 million or $0.10 per share for fiscal year 2018.

EBITDA¹ for the three months ended December 31, 2019 was $2.1 million or 23.9% of revenues compared to $2.4 million or 27.9% of revenues in the prior sequential quarter, and $2.5 million or 30.7% of revenues for the same year-ago period. The decrease for the quarter was due to the change in fair value of contingent consideration, where management increased its estimate of future royalties payable following early signs of a recovering wafer fabrication equipment environment.

As of December 31, 2019, cash and cash equivalents were $33.4 million, a decrease of $0.6 million from $34.0 million at September 30, 2019. The decrease was primarily attributable to the growth in the Company’s inventory position to support its order backlog (defined as the value of sales orders scheduled to be shipped in the next 6 months).

Order backlog was $20.8 million at December 31, 2019 compared to $11.9 million at September 30, 2019. The order backlog reflects the beginning of an upturn in wafer fabrication equipment spending and improved near-term demand from semiconductor wafer fabrication equipment manufacturers.

During the year ended December 31, 2019, the Company re-purchased and cancelled 5.5 million common shares for a total cost of $7.1 million, in accordance with the share buyback program.