Fourth quarter of 2005 net sales of € 234.0 million, up 34% from the third quarter of 2005 and up 44% from the fourth quarter of 2004;

After charges for impairment and restructuring of € 43.8 million, the net loss of the fourth quarter of 2005 was € 27.2 million or € 0.52 diluted net loss per share, as compared to a net loss of € 6.3 million or € 0.12 diluted net loss per share for the third quarter of 2005 and net earnings of € 1.4 million or € 0.03 diluted net earnings per share in the fourth quarter of 2004;

Bookings in the fourth quarter of 2005 were € 232.3 million, up 15% from the third quarter of 2005. Year-end backlog was € 221.9 million, down 1% from the end of the previous quarter;

Full year 2005 net sales of € 726.4 million, down 4% from net sales of € 754.2 million for the full year 2004. Sales from our Front-end segment were up 1% and sales from our Back-end segment were down 8%;

After charges for impairment and restructuring of € 43.8 million, the net loss for the full year 2005 was € 40.2 million or € 0.76 diluted net loss per share as compared to net earnings of € 24.0 million or € 0.46 diluted net earnings per share for the full year 2004;

Full year 2005 bookings of € 761.5 million, up 3% from bookings of € 742.0 million for the full year 2004.


BILTHOVEN, THE NETHERLANDS, February 21, 2006 - ASM International N.V. (NASDAQ: ASMI and Euronext Amsterdam: ASM) reports today its final fourth quarter 2005 and full year 2005 operating results. These operating results have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America ("US GAAP").

"Both Front-end and Back-end operations realized significant sales improvement in the fourth quarter of 2005 as compared to the third quarter of 2005. Excluding € 43.8 million restructuring charges, net income was € 16.6 million, or € 0.32 per share, for the fourth quarter. We ended the year in a strong position to benefit from capital investments in 300mm tools, 90 and 65nm high volume manufacturing and the development and testing of enabling technologies for 65 and 45nm nodes", commented Arthur del Prado, president and chief executive officer of ASMI. "In Back-end, ASM Pacific Technology's diversified products servicing broad applications provide resilience to industry swings while offering innovative solutions to the plethora of new assembly and packaging advancements challenging the industry today.

Impairment and Restructuring
We will significantly reduce ASM NuTool to a small operation, focusing on process and intellectual property development with the intention of licensing these technologies in the future. In connection with this restructuring, we have recorded impairment charges for goodwill and property, plant and equipment, the write-down of inventories and other current assets and the recognition of contractual purchase commitments as of December 31, 2005 in the amount of € 36.8 million, after taxes. Of these charges € 36.2 million is non cash and € 0.6 million is accrued for as of December 31, 2005 and expected to be paid in cash in 2006. In the first quarter of 2006 we expect to recognize additional charges for, amongst others, one-time employee termination costs, the termination of operational lease obligations and settlement charges with former NuTool shareholders in the amount of approximately € 5.5 million. Approximately € 3.1 million will be paid in our common shares, and the remainder of approximately € 2.4 million will be paid in cash.

We have also implemented initiatives in our Front-end segment in the fourth quarter of 2005 to consolidate platforms used in our Capacitor Product group. We recorded one-time charges of € 7.0 million related to the impairment of property, plant and equipment, the write-down of inventory and other current assets and the recognition of contractual purchase commitments as of December 31, 2005. Of these charges € 6.3 million is non cash and € 0.7 million is accrued for as of December 31, 2005 and expected to be paid in cash in 2006.

The consolidated financial statements include the operations of our 100% subsidiary ASM NuTool, Inc. (ASM NuTool) as from June 2, 2004 and our 100% subsidiary Genitech Inc. (ASM Genitech Korea) as from August 5, 2004.

Liquidity and capital resources
Net cash provided by operations was € 21.1 million for the fourth quarter of 2005 as compared to net cash used in operations of € 4.3 million for the fourth quarter of 2004. The development results from a net loss of € 27.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2005 as compared to net earnings of € 1.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2004, offset by minority interest of € 16.1 million and € 5.9 million respectively. Non cash impairment charges regarding goodwill and property, plant and equipment of € 36.4 million contributed positively to the cash flow from operations for the fourth quarter of 2005. Net cash used in investing activities was € 12.5 million for the fourth quarter of 2005 as compared to € 21.3 million for the fourth quarter of 2004. The decrease primarily results from decreased capital expenditures of € 11.8 million in the fourth quarter of 2005 compared to € 20.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2004.

Net cash provided by operations for 2005 was € 50.7 million as compared to € 74.9 million for 2004. The decrease results from decreased net earnings, partially offset by decreased working capital. Net cash used in investing activities for 2005 was € 45.6 million as compared to € 67.7 million for 2004. The decrease primarily results from decreased capital expenditures of € 44.6 million in 2005 compared to € 58.1 million in 2004. In 2004, we expanded our manufacturing facilities in Singapore for our Front-end operations and in Malaysia for our Back-end operations. In 2004, we also invested € 4.5 million in cash for the acquisition of new business and repurchased shares of our Back-end subsidiary, ASM Pacific Technology for € 4.5 million in cash.

Net cash used in financing activities for 2005 was € 109.7 million as compared to net cash provided by financing activities of € 63.2 million for 2004. We repaid the remaining balance of US$ 94.3 million of our 5% convertible subordinated notes on due date November 15, 2005. In December 2004, we issued US$ 150.0 million of 4.25% convertible subordinated notes, which are due December 2011.

Net working capital, consisting of accounts receivable, inventories, other current assets, accounts payable, accrued expenses, advance payments from customers and deferred revenue, increased from € 189.2 million at December 31, 2004 to € 234.6 million at December 31, 2005. The increase is primarily the result of increased sales and manufacturing levels. The number of outstanding days of working capital, measured based on annual sales, increased from 92 days at December 31, 2004 to 118 days at December 31, 2005.

At December 31, 2005, the Company's principal sources of liquidity consisted of € 135.0 million in cash and cash equivalents, of which € 55.3 million was available for the Company's Front-end operations and € 79.7 million was restricted for use in the Company's Back-end operations. In addition, the Company also had € 75.5 million in undrawn bank facilities, of which € 37.1 million was available for Back-end and € 38.0 million was available for its Front-end operations in Japan.


Outlook
Based on capital expenditure guidance from major device makers, we anticipate that 2006 should be a growth year for the semiconductor equipment industry. This fuels our optimism for both our Front-end and Back-end operations.

We reiterate that management's primary focus is to take our Front-end operations to profitable, sustainable growth. We believe that the previously announced restructuring of ASM NuTool, the consolidation of platforms in our Capacitor Product group, and our Front-end manufacturing program in Singapore are important steps on the road to profitability. A favourable industry environment would be an additional contributing factor toward reaching this strategic objective.

We are confident that our Back-end segment will continue to increase its market position and to once again outperform the industry in 2006, reflecting its broad product range, superior customer service and unique, vertically-integrated manufacturing model.

Based on the current order backlog, we expect 2006 first quarter sales to be solid, for both Front-end and Back-end. Though the combined sales will be lower than the excellent sales in the fourth quarter of 2005, the sales will be higher than sales in any of the other quarters of 2005. We do not anticipate that our Front-end operations will reach breakeven in the first quarter, due in part to the additional restructuring charges for ASM NuTool that will be recognized in the first quarter. We expect that Back-end will continue to show strong operating results.