Danbury semiconductor technology maker ATMI Inc. flowed red ink in the first quarter, the result of terminating its contract with a Japanese distributor.
For three months ended Dec. 31, ATMI lost $47.2 million, or $1.49 a share. That compares to a net profit of $13.8 million, or 43 cents a share, the same period last year.
The loss was 6 cents a share better than what analysts were predicting.
Fourth-quarter sales were $90.3 million, down from $96 million a year ago.
In November, ATMI announced it was paying the parent of Matheson Tri-Gas $95 million to end their contract and retake control of global distribution of its proprietary technology that enables microchip makers to safely handle industrial gases for processing silicon wafers.
ATMI said Matheson will relinquish all license, manufacturing and distribution rights to all markets but Japan, a transition that will take two years to complete. Matheson, of Basking Ridge, N.J., is a unit of Japan’s Taiyo Nippon Sanso Corp.
ATMI said at the time that restoring marketing of its “Safe Delivery Source” (SDS) product line in-house long term will add between $7 million to $8 million to ATMI’s quarterly sales. However, near term the deal will generate “a negative impact” of as much as $16 million to ATMI’s revenues for the successive two quarters.
Despite the $95 million payment to Matheson, ATMI said it ended the quarter with $114 million in cash, plenty “to pursue additional strategic growth opportunities,” finance chief Tim Carlson said in a statement.
