Ramtron - FRAM - ESRAM (RMTR)

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Ramtron Reports Second Quarter 2012 Financial Results

Ramtron International Corp. (MM) (NASDAQ:RMTR)
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Today : Tuesday 24 July 2012

U.S. semiconductor maker Ramtron International Corporation (Nasdaq: RMTR), a leading developer and supplier of ferroelectric-based memory and integrated semiconductor products, today reported total revenue of $14.2 million for the second quarter of 2012, compared to $16.8 million for the second quarter of 2011. Net income for the second quarter of 2012 was $69,000, or $0.00 per share, compared with a net loss of $683,000, or ($0.02) per share, for the second quarter of 2011.

“Distributor order flow began to slow as headwinds in the semiconductor markets that we serve picked up toward the end of the second quarter and stalled our revenue growth,” said Eric Balzer, Ramtron’s chief executive officer. “Despite this industry softness, we posted Adjusted EBITDA of $1.9 million by maintaining operational discipline and reduced inventory by approximately $1.4 million on a sequential basis.

“In addition, we gained traction with our demand creation initiatives during the quarter, logging new wins and advancing opportunities in automotive, metering and medical applications,” Balzer continued. “We are now seven months into our program of driving design wins with new and existing customers after last year’s hiatus in design activity, when our highest priority was to work with our existing customers to manage supply constraints. With a number of new design wins under our belt and emerging opportunities on the horizon, we remain well positioned for growth in 2013 and beyond.”

2012 Second-Quarter Financial Highlights

• Total revenue of $14.2 million, compared to $14.9 million in the first quarter of 2012

• Product gross margin remained flat at 52%, compared to first quarter of 2012

• Income tax provision was $167,000

• Stock-based compensation was $368,000

• Adjusted EBITDA was approximately $1.9 million

2012 Second-Quarter Corporate and Product Highlights

• Ramtron was added to NVIDIA’s Preferred Vendor List and participated in the GPU Technology Conference 2012 in San Jose, CA.

• Named Gery E. Richards as chief financial officer. Mr. Richards joined Ramtron in 2004, became controller in 2008, and was appointed interim chief financial officer in October 2011.

• Appointed Erik Wood as director of business development. Mr. Wood brings to Ramtron 17 years of solution sales and high-tech market development experience with deep experience in the defense/aerospace, supply chain, transportation, oil and gas, healthcare, identification and security markets.

• Announced availability of the MaxReader Development Kit to enhance the adoption of the Company’s wireless memory products. The Kit allows system designers to quickly evaluate, thoroughly test, and rapidly prototype Ramtron’s MaxArias™ wireless memory for a broad range of RF-enabled applications.

“Limited near-term visibility, brought on by weak industry conditions, has caused us to become more conservative on our outlook for 2012,” Balzer added. “As a result, we are operating under the assumption that revenue stays flat for the third-quarter of 2012. At this level, we are confident that we will maintain positive cash flow from operating activities. While managing the business for cash flow, we are intensely focused on driving growth through the execution of our demand creation initiatives, expanding design activity, and introducing new products so that we are prepared for an improvement in industry conditions and, longer term, to take advantage of the significant opportunities for our F-RAM based low energy, wireless, and high data integrity solutions,” Balzer concluded.

Business Outlook

In light of limited near-term visibility, Ramtron is modifying its guidance policy from providing an outlook for full-year 2012 to an outlook for the next reported quarter. As visibility and industry conditions improve, Ramtron’s management will re-evaluate its guidance policy.

The following statements are based on Ramtron’s current expectations of results for the third quarter of 2012. These statements are forward looking, and actual results may differ materially from those set forth in these statements. Ramtron intends to continue its policy of not updating forward-looking statements other than in publicly available documents, even if experience or future changes show that anticipated results or events will not be realized.

For Q3 2012:

• Management expects revenue of approximately $14.0 to $14.5 million with a gross product margin of 52%.

• In terms of operating expenses, by expense line item and as a percent of total revenue, management expects sales and marketing to be 18%, research and development to be 22%, and general and administrative to be 16%. Included in general and administrative expenses are expected fees and expenses, totaling approximately 5% of total revenue, associated with the tender offer commenced by Cypress Semiconductor Corporation.

Strategic Alternatives Review Process

Ramtron’s Board of Directors is continuing to evaluate strategic alternatives including, but not limited to, a potential sale of the Company, a strategic alignment with one or more investors or joint venture counterparties, other potential strategic transactions to realize the long-term value of the Company for its stockholders, or continuing with the Company’s current growth plans. The Board continues to believe that completing the strategic review process is one way to ensure that Ramtron stockholders have the best opportunity to realize a full and fair value for their investment. No assurance can be given as to whether this process will result in a proposed transaction, whether any transaction that may be proposed as a result of such process would be acceptable to the Company and the Board or whether any such proposed transaction will be announced or consummated.

Conference Call

Management will conduct a conference call to discuss second quarter results today at 5:00 PM Eastern Time/4:00 PM Central Time. To participate in the conference call, please call [phone] or [phone] and reference code # 32838497. The call will also be webcast. To access the webcast, investors should go to the home page of the Ramtron site at www.ramtron.com and click on the teleconference link. From this site, investors can access the teleconference webcast. A properly configured computer system is required.

A replay of the live conference call will be available from 7:30 PM Eastern Time/6:30 PM Central time on July 24 until 11:59 PM Eastern time/10:59 PM Central Time on July 30. To listen to the replay, please dial [phone], passcode #32838497. In addition, a replay of the webcast will be available shortly after the call at http://www.ramtron.com/investor-relations/calendar-events/ and will be archived for one year.