SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Ultra Clean Holdings Inc. has cut more jobs and closed plants amid losses.
"We continue to view this severe business slowdown as an opportunity to expand market share, transfer additional manufacturing to Asia, and consolidate our U.S.-based assembly operations,'' said Clarence Granger, Ultra Clean's chairman and CEO, in a statement.
''In the fourth quarter, we consolidated additional U.S. based production into our Hayward, California facility, ahead of schedule, closing two more U.S. facilities and downsizing a third,'' he said. ''We decreased our U.S.-based workforce by an additional 17 percent, bringing the total year-to-date reduction to 32 percent. We decreased our workforce by another 131 employees in January 2009, and plan further actions to align our resources with market demand.''
Last month, the company issued a warning about its results. It also talked about layoffs and plant shutdowns.
Ultra Clean (Hayward, Calif.), a developer and supplier of critical subsystems for the semiconductor capital equipment, flat panel, solar, and medical device industries, said revenue for the fourth quarter of 2008 was $47.1 million, a decrease of 22 percent from the third quarter of 2008 and a decrease of 49 percent from the same period a year ago.
Ultra Clean determined that the company will incur a total non-cash charge to goodwill and other long lived assets of approximately $48.0 million, net of tax, in the fourth quarter of 2008. The charge relates to impairment of assets associated with its Sieger acquisition.
The company recorded a net loss of $52.2 million or minus $2.45 per share on a GAAP basis, during the fourth quarter of 2008, compared to a net loss of $1.9 million or minus $0.09 per share, for the third quarter of 2008 and net income of $2.1 million, or $0.09 per diluted share, for the same period a year ago.
Commenting on Ultra Clean's corporate outlook, Granger noted, "While we remain very confident in our strategic direction, business model and balance sheet, we anticipate further significant declines in the semiconductor capital equipment market during Q1. We expect that revenue for the first quarter of 2009 will be in the range of $20 million to $28 million, and loss per share will be in the range of $0.25 to $0.36 per share, on a GAAP basis, inclusive of an expected $0.02 per share charge related to SFAS 123."