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SINGAPORE--([ BUSINESS WIRE ])--Kulicke & Soffa Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ: KLIC) (aK&Sa or the aCompanya)today announced results for its first fiscal quarter ended December 31, 2011.

Bruno Guilmart, Kulicke & Soffaas President and Chief Executive Officer, said, aRevenue in the December quarter came in at the high end of our guidance but declined sequentially due to the overall macroeconomic market environment combined with weaker demand from our OSAT customers. Despite the challenging environment, we continued to generate healthy levels of operating cash which allowed us to end the quarter with record cash and investments of $403.8 million dollars. We remain focused on operational excellence, expanding our product offerings and managing our business efficiently throughout the cycle.a

First Quarter Fiscal 2012 Key Product Trends

• Ball bonder equipment net revenue decreased 37% over the September quarter.
• 72% of ball bonder equipment was sold as copper capable bonders, compared to 37% in the same period one year ago.
• Wedge bonder equipment net revenue decreased 18% from the September quarter.

First Quarter Fiscal 2012 Financial Highlights

• Net revenue of $120.0 million.
• Gross margin improved sequentially to 46.1%.
• Net income was $8.5 million or $0.11 per share.
• Cash, cash equivalents and investments increased to $403.8 million up $19.2 million from the prior quarter.

Second Quarter Fiscal 2012 Outlook

The Company expects net revenue for the second quarter of fiscal 2012 to be approximately $125 million to $135 million, reflecting the continued uncertain economic environment and ongoing conservative capital spending by its customers.

Looking forward, Bruno Guilmart commented, aWe believe we are well positioned both competitively and financially and continue to work towards our goals and objectives of strengthening our technology leadership, broadening our product offering, developing our employees and leveraging our technical competencies in an effort to maximize shareholder value. These actions are coming to fruition as we look forward to a series of new product launches throughout 2012.a

Earnings Conference Call Details

A conference call to discuss these results will be held today, January 31, 2012, beginning at 8:00 am (EST). To access the conference call, interested parties may call +1-877-407-8037 or internationally +1-201-689-8037. The call will also be available by live webcast at [ www.kns.com/investors/events ].

A replay will be available from approximately one hour after the completion of the call through February 7, 2012 by calling +1-877-660-6853 or internationally +1-201-612-7415, with account number 5521 and replay ID 386579. A webcast replay will also be available at [ www.kns.com/investors/events ].

About Kulicke & Soffa

Kulicke & Soffa (NASDAQ: KLIC) is a global leader in the design and manufacture of semiconductor and LED assembly equipment. As a pioneer in this industry, K&S has provided customers with market leading packaging solutions for decades. In recent years, K&S has expanded its product offerings through strategic acquisitions, adding die and wedge bonders and a broader range of expendable tools to its core ball bonding products. Combined with its extensive expertise in process technology, K&S is well positioned to help customers meet the challenges of assembling the next-generation semiconductor and LED devices. ([ www.kns.com ])

Caution Concerning Results and Forward Looking Statements

In addition to historical statements, this press release contains statements relating to future events and our future results. These statements are aforward-lookinga statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, and include, but are not limited to, statements that relate to our future revenue, sustained, increasing, continuing or strengthening demand for our products, the continuing transition from gold to copper wire bonding, replacement demand, our research and development efforts, our ability to identify and realize new growth opportunities and our ability to control costs. While these forward-looking statements represent our judgments and future expectations concerning our business, a number of risks, uncertainties and other important factors could cause actual developments and results to differ materially from our expectations. These factors include, but are not limited to: the risk that customer orders already received may be postponed or canceled, generally without charges; the risk that anticipated customer orders may not materialize; the risk that our suppliers may not be able to meet our demands on a timely basis; the volatility in the demand for semiconductors and our products and services; volatile global economic conditions, which could result in, among other things, sharply lower demand for products containing semiconductors and for the Companyas products, and disruption of capital and credit markets; the risk of failure to successfully manage our operations;acts of terrorism and violence;risks, such as changes in trade regulations, currency fluctuations, political instability and war, which may be associated with a substantial non-U.S. customer and supplier base and substantial non-U.S. manufacturing operations;and the factors listed or discussed in Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. 2011 Annual Report on Form 10-K and our other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Kulicke & Soffa Industries, Inc is under no obligation to (and expressly disclaims any obligation to) update or alter its forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.