Over the course of 50 years we have grown to become a global company that develops innovative solutions for our customers, and manages the best interests of our investors, our employees, society and other stakeholders. Read on to discover what we achieved in 2018.
The demand for smaller, faster and cheaper semiconductor chips continues to rise, driven by advancements in cloud computing, artificial intelligence, smartphones and the Internet of Things.
Our technology is the first step towards making it all possible, as our R&D investment in new materials, new products and new processes means we can help our customers develop their technology roadmap, and further extend Moore’s Law.
In 2018, this led to the introduction of the Synergis ALD tool, which leverages the core technologies from our Pulsar and EmerALD ALD products for high productivity thermal ALD applications. The new Synergis tool allows us to address more ALD applications and therefore increases our served market. Together with our other products and services, this contributed to our strong financial results, which included:
We operate in a fast-paced industry that continues to reshape the world, and our innovative technology enables the semiconductor industry to achieve advancements in computing, communications, energy, transportation, medicine and beyond.
To ensure that we can continue to make a difference to our customers, employees, and company stakeholders, in 2018 we concentrated on the following three key elements of our strategy.
In addition to our fundamental R&D efforts, we continuously expand and deepen our strategic cooperation with key customers, suppliers, chemical manufacturers, and research institutes. This approach enables us to remain innovative and swiftly meet the changing demands of our customers.
We are a key player in the deposition equipment segments for ALD and epitaxy, and a focused niche player for PECVD and vertical furnaces. As a leader in the segment, ALD has turned into a key growth driver for our business, from which we support virtually all of the leading customers in the semiconductor industry. Our newest ALD tool, Synergis, is designed to address a wide range of existing and new ALD applications, effectively increasing the market we serve.
In addition to our internal optimization programs, we are working with our suppliers to improve fundamental quality through statistical methods and process controls. In addition to addressing the technology needs of our customers, we also focus on further increasing equipment throughput and equipment reliability, thereby lowering the cost per wafer of our wafer processing systems.
In 2018, we achieved revenue growth of 11% reaching a record high revenue of €818 million, with sales increasing mainly in the logic, DRAM and analog segments. By industry segment, our 2018 revenue stream was led by memory, closely followed by the logic and foundry segments.
While our ALD product lines continued to be our key sales driver in 2018, accounting for more than half of total equipment revenue, our other product lines also contributed strongly. In our epitaxy product line we increased sales, following the strong growth we achieved in 2017, and we saw additional sales increases in PECVD and vertical furnaces.
Our industry experienced continued growth in 2018, with worldwide semiconductor industry sales increasing by around 14%. This was driven by high memory prices and broad-based electronics demand for cloud services, mobile devices, automotive and industrial applications. These drivers helped the wafer fab equipment market grow by around 10% in 2018.
Our 2018 sales grew to record levels, reaching €818 million. ALD continued to be the key driver, although the other product lines also made a strong contribution.
We benefited from a further increase in wafer fab equipment spending following the very strong market growth in 2017. Our operating profit increased to €124.3 million from €113.2 million in 2017, while the operating profit margin remained stable.
New bookings increased by 22% in 2018 to €942 million, with equipment bookings for ASMI as a whole led by logic, followed by foundry and then memory. Total research and development (R&D) expenses, excluding impairment charges, decreased by 1% in 2018 compared to 2017, mainly as a result of higher capitalization of development expenses.
Our 2018 sales grew to record levels, reaching €818 million. ALD continued to be the key driver, although the other product lines also made a strong contribution.
We benefited from a further increase in wafer fab equipment spending following the very strong market growth in 2017. Our operating profit increased to €124.3 million from €113.2 million in 2017, while the operating profit margin remained stable.
New bookings increased by 22% in 2018 to €942 million, with equipment bookings for ASMI as a whole led by logic, followed by foundry and then memory. Total research and development (R&D) expenses, excluding impairment charges, decreased by 1% in 2018 compared to 2017, mainly as a result of higher capitalization of development expenses.
During 2018, we returned approximately €607 million to shareholders in the form of dividends, share buybacks and the capital return. This was up from €281 million in 2017 and €140 million in 2016.
Over the 2010-2018 period, we returned more than €1.6 billion to the financial markets through dividends, share buybacks, return of capital, and buyback of convertible bonds.
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In 2018, we paid a dividend of €0.80 per common share and we will propose to the forthcoming AGM to declare a dividend of €1.00 per share for 2019. The proposed 2019 dividend will mark the ninth consecutive year that we have paid a dividend.
We are committed to paying a sustainable dividend. Additionally, in recent years we have returned excess cash to the financial markets in the form of share buyback programs and extraordinary repayments of capital.
ASMI aims to pay a sustainable annual dividend. Annually, the Supervisory Board, upon proposal of the Management Board, will assess the amount of dividend that will be proposed to the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders (AGM). The decision that a dividend be proposed to the AGM will be subject to the availability of distributable profits as well as retained earnings and may be affected by our potential future funding requirements. Accordingly, dividend payments may fluctuate and could decline or be omitted in any year.
The proposed dividend for 2019 will mark the ninth consecutive year that we have paid a dividend. In 2012, 2013 and 2014, we paid a dividend of €0.50 per common share. In 2015 we paid a dividend of €0.60, in 2016 and 2017 we paid a dividend of €0.70 and in 2018 we paid a dividend of €0.80 per common share.
ASMI will propose to the forthcoming 2019 AGM, which will be held on May 20, 2019, to declare a dividend of €1.00 per common share.
Ex-dividend date shares Euronext and OTC US: May 22, 2019
Record date: May 23, 2019
Payment date: May 29, 2019
In addition to the regular dividend, on August 10, 2018, ASMI distributed €4.00 per common share to its shareholders through a tax efficient repayment of capital. The ex-date of the distribution was August 7, 2018.
The proposal for this capital repayment was initially announced on February 28, 2018, and approved by the 2018 AGM.
In July 2013, ASMI distributed €4.25 per ordinary share to its shareholders. This followed on the sale of 12% of the total shares in ASMPT in March 2013. The extraordinary return of capital in 2013 was in addition to the dividend paid that year.
On June 5, 2018, ASMI announced the start of a share buyback program of ASMI’s common shares up to €250 million. This program followed on ASMI’s announcement on February 28, 2018, that it intended to use €250 million of the proceeds of the partial sale of a stake of approximately 9% in ASMPT for a new share buyback program.
The 2018 program started on June 6, 2018, and ended on October 11, 2018. In total, we repurchased 5,443,888 shares at an average price of €45.92, including expenses, under the 2018 program.
This share buyback program was executed by a third party. ASMI has the intention to reduce its capital by withdrawing the shares repurchased as part of the 2018 share buyback program, save for such number of treasury shares as maybe necessary to fund ongoing share and option programs for employees and board members. This withdrawal of shares is intended to be proposed to the Annual General Meeting in 2019. The 2018 repurchase program is part of ASMI's commitment to use excess cash for the benefit of its shareholders.
In 2018, we also completed the €250 million share buyback program 2017-2018. This program was funded with the proceeds of approximately €248 million of the partial secondary placement of shares of ASMPT that was executed on April 24, 2017. The 2017-2018 share buyback program started on September 22, 2017, and ended on March 29, 2018. In total, we repurchased 4,353,292 shares at an average price of €57.43, including expenses, under this program.
During the whole of 2018, we bought back a total of approximately 7.2 million shares at an average share price of €49.01 and for a total value of approximately €355 million. This compares with a total of approximately 4.4 million bought back in 2017 at an average price of €54.19 and for a total value of €240 million.
The 2018 program is the fifth consecutive share buyback program. Next to the 2018 program the earlier programs included:
During 2018, we returned approximately €607 million to shareholders in the form of dividends, share buybacks and the capital return. This was up from €281 million in 2017 and €140 million in 2016. Over the 2010-2018 period, we returned more than €1.6 billion to the financial markets through dividends, share buybacks, return of capital, and buyback of convertible bonds.