BE Semiconductor sees Q1 revenue fall amid weakness in Asia

(Reuters) -Dutch chipmaking equipment supplier BE Semiconductor (BESI) said on Wednesday it expects its revenue in the first quarter of 2023 to fall again, as inflation and geopolitical tensions weigh on demand in the Asian market.

BESI expects a fall in its quarterly revenue in the range of 0-10%.

The assembly equipment maker said its revenue in the final three months of 2022 fell 18.4% to 137.7 million euros ($146.72 million) from the previous quarter, declining particularly in Asia and in mobile end-user markets.

"The headwinds we face are many, including higher inflation and interest rates, decelerating economic growth, geo-political tensions and ongoing weakness in mainstream electronics, computing and mobile handset end-user markets," Chief Executive Officer Richard Blickman said in a statement.

In October, BESI expected its revenue in the final quarter to fall between 15%-25%, pointing to uncertainty in the market amid the U.S. curbs on exports to China.

The company generated just 25.9% of its yearly revenue from China against 37.6% reported for 2021 as orders from subcontractors for computing applications in the country fell amid weakening economic conditions.

However, the company said the recent tensions between the United States and China had not hit its sales and orders.

($1 = 0.9385 euros)

(Reporting by Boleslaw Lasocki in Gdansk; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman and Eileen Soreng)