- Q1 2008 net sales of EUR 919 million versus Q4 2007 net sales of EUR 9551 million (Q1 2007 net sales of EUR 9491 million)
- Q1 2008 net income of EUR 145 million or 15.8 percent of net sales versus Q4 2007 net income of EUR 2011 million or 21.01 percent of net sales (Q1 2007 net income of EUR 1531 million or 16.11 percent of net sales)
- Q1 2008 net bookings valued at EUR 312 million with 26 systems including 17 new and 9 used systems, leading to an order backlog valued at EUR 1,167 million as of March 30, 2008.

“Thanks to strong immersion product shipments, we were able to generate net sales above EUR 900 million for the eighth quarter in a row,” said Eric Meurice, president and CEO of ASML. “We shipped 14 immersion machines, our most advanced system, as Flash memory makers are ramping chip production in the 50 nanometer (nm) range, and as most other semiconductor manufacturers are in varying phases of developing immersion production processes and preparing for immersion volume production. Beyond immersion technology, we can report progress on Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV), as the world’s first working full-field test chip made on one of our EUV machines was announced at the SPIE Advanced Lithography conference in February. We also concluded our latest share buyback program and announced that we will initiate an annual dividend of EUR 0.25 per ordinary share, confirming ASML’s stable and cash-generative performance,” Meurice said.

Operations Update
In Q1 2008, ASML net sales of EUR 919 million included 43 new and 7 used systems, totaling net system sales of EUR 820 million, and net service and field options sales of EUR 99 million. Net system sales for Q4 2007 included the shipment of 50 new and 5 used machines, totaling EUR 8351 million, and net service and field options sales of EUR 120 million.

The Q1 2008 average selling price for a new system increased to EUR 18.7 million, compared with the Q4 2007 average selling price (ASP) for a new system of EUR 16.21 million, as a result of a shift of the product mix to systems with a higher ASP. The Q1 2008 average selling price for all ASML systems sold was EUR 16.4 million, compared with the Q4 2007 average selling price of EUR 15.21 million.

Q1 2008 net bookings totaled 26 systems valued at EUR 312 million, reflecting a large proportion of used and logic systems, with 17 new systems with an average selling price for new systems of EUR 15.7 million.

ASML’s order backlog as of March 30, 2008 decreased to EUR 1,167 million, totaling 65 systems with an average selling price of EUR 18.0 million. For comparison, ASML’s backlog as of December 31, 2007 was valued at EUR 1,697 million, totaling 89 systems with an average selling price of EUR 19.1 million.

In Q1 2008, ASML generated a net income of EUR 145 million or EUR 0.34 per ordinary share as compared with a net income of EUR 2011 million in Q4 2007 or EUR 0.461 per ordinary share.

The company’s Q1 2008 gross margin was 40.6 percent, compared with the Q4 2007 gross margin of 40.81 percent.

Q1 2008 research and development (R&D) costs were EUR 128 million net of credits, compared with Q4 2007 R&D costs of EUR 129 million net of credits.

Selling, general and administrative (SG&A) costs were EUR 57 million in Q1 2008, compared with SG&A costs of EUR 57 million in Q4 2007.

Net cash from operations was EUR 263 million in Q1 2008. ASML ended Q1 2008 with EUR 1,397 million in cash and cash equivalents.

Outlook
”We booked 26 systems during the quarter, reflecting on the one hand a sustained demand from Logic customers and on the other the delayed ramps of two new Flash memory fabs and of one DRAM fab extension. We expect a gradual unit order pick-up from the second quarter onwards, driven by strategic and technological developments; lithography demand will be supported in particular by the new 45 nm node Flash memory ramp required in the 2008 second half, the expected firming up of DRAM prices and the completion of new strategic alignments between DRAM makers. We expect that the resulting order mix will favor our leading-edge technology systems, fuelling a significant increase in the second quarter bookings value. We however expect the unit order pick-up to be gradual until second tier DRAM vendors start ordering immersion systems and until Flash vendors start preparing their 2009 double patterning ramp. This order pattern will translate into weaker net sales for the next two quarters. This brings our estimate for full year 2008 net sales down by about 10% as compared with the record sales achieved in 2007. Given our current view of the duration of the correction in semiconductor capital expenditures, we are trimming Manufacturing and SG&A variable costs for the 2008 second half while keeping R&D stable,” Meurice said.

The company expects to ship 42 systems in Q2 2008 with an average selling price of EUR 21.2 million for new systems and an average selling price for all systems of EUR 17.0 million. The company expects a gross margin in Q2 2008 of approximately 40 percent, R&D expenditures to increase to EUR 130 million, net of credits and SG&A costs to be EUR 58 million.