BESI sees revenue fall in fourth quarter, warns US export restrictions add uncertainty

By Dagmarah Mackos

(Reuters) – BE Semiconductor (BESI) forecast a decline in quarterly revenue on Thursday as the chip-making equipment supplier warned that restrictions on U.S. exports to China were adding more uncertainty to the outlook for the industry.

The Dutch firm is the latest semiconductor company to issue optimistic advice amid growing concerns over weakening consumer demand for electronics.

BESI said it was assessing whether its products would be subject to sweeping new U.S. restrictions on exporting semiconductors to China announced earlier this month.

The semiconductor assembly and packaging equipment maker said it expects revenue to fall 15% to 25% in the fourth quarter, from 168.8 million euros in the third quarter ($165 million).

The forecast came as the company announced that third-quarter orders fell 18.2% to 125.3 million euros from the previous quarter, demand for high-performance computing and sub-computer applications. Asian contractors having weakened.

These were also lower than in 2021 due to the general market decline, especially in computer applications, he said.

The group announced a turnover of 168.8 million euros, down 21.1% compared to the previous quarter, at the top of the 20-30% range expected in July.

($1 = 1.0221 euros)

(Reporting by Dagmarah Mackos; Editing by Josephine Mason and Uttaresh.V)