GENEVA--(Marketwire - Jul 17, 2012) -

 * Net sales $344 million; 19 percent sequential increase * Adjusted operating loss(1) $235 million; $62 million improvement over prior quarter * Transfer of application processor development organization finalized on July 1 

ST-Ericsson, a joint venture of STMicroelectronics (NYSE: [ STM ]) and Ericsson (NASDAQ: [ ERIC ]), reported financial results for the second fiscal quarter ending June 30, 2012.

Sales in the second quarter increased 19 percent over the prior quarter reflecting a significant ramp of volumes of NovaThor™ platforms shipping to our major customers. Adjusted operating loss decreased sequentially by $62 million to $235 million, as the result of volume and margin improvements due to new platforms and the first steps of the ongoing actions to reduce operating expenses.

Didier Lamouche, President and CEO of ST-Ericsson said: "This has been a quarter of progress across the board. We ramped our NovaThor ModAp platform with Samsung and Sony Mobile Communications and also added several new Chinese key players. We are executing in a timely manner our new strategic plan to reposition our whole business model and we finalized on July 1, as anticipated, the transfer of the application processors development team to STMicroelectronics to build a world class partnership.

We are advancing towards our objective to reduce our breakeven point and to reach sustainable profitability. During the quarter, all profit and loss metrics showed a sequential improvement: from revenue growth to gross margin expansion and from expense reduction to the decrease of our operating loss. While these indicators are encouraging, we recognize that further improvements in the execution of our critical programs are needed. Moreover, we operate in a very dynamic, fast-changing market and a highly competitive environment. In this context our primary focus is on delivering improvements of operating results and cash flow."

 2012 second quarter financial summary (unaudited) $ million Q2 2012 Q1 2012 Q2 2011 Income Statement NET SALES 344 290 385 OPERATING INCOME/(LOSS) ADJUSTED(1) for: (235) (297) (181) - amortization of acquisition-related intangibles (19) (19) (25) - restructuring charges (56) (10) (15) OPERATING INCOME / (LOSS) as reported (309) (326) (222) NET INCOME / (LOSS) (318) (312) (221) -------------------------------------------------------------------------- $ million Q2 2012 Q1 2012 Q2 2011 Additional financial data Net financial position (2)) Cash, cash equivalents & short-term deposits/debt, net 33 22 18 Parent companies short-term debt (1238) (978) (445) Net financial position (1205) (956) (427) Net operating cash flow(3) (249) (159) (233) -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Additional financial information The net financial position(2) at the end of the second quarter was negative $1205 million. Inventory decreased by $38 million reaching $171 million at the end of the second quarter.

Outlook Given, on one hand, the very substantial revenue growth during the second quarter and, on the other hand, the macro-economic and industry environment, ST- Ericsson expects net sales to be approximately flat sequentially for the third quarter 2012.

Highlights - products, technology and wins announced in the second quarter 2012

 * Customers * Samsung continues to incorporate the ST-Ericsson NovaThor ModAp platforms into their award-winning Samsung GALAXY smartphone line with the announcement of the Samsung GALAXY Beam and Samsung GALAXY Ace 2. * China Unicom and Yulong are now customers of the NovaThor platform. The NovaThor U8500 ModAp platform powers the new Coolpad Cheer CP7728. * The Xperia™ go smartphone became the fourth phone this year from Sony Mobile Communications to leverage the ST-Ericsson NovaThor platform. * The Shanda Bambook smartphone - the first from the China-based company - is powered by the ST-Ericsson NovaThor U8500 ModAp solution. It is the first of several smartphones planned by Shanda to use the ST-Ericsson NovaThor platform. * Two new Panasonic ELUGA devices for the Japanese market are powered by the compact yet power efficient Thor M5780 thin modem. * A new Sharp AQUOS smartphone is based on the power efficient ST-Ericsson Thor M5730 and available now in Japan. * Partners/technology * STMicroelectronics secured additional sourcing for 28nm and 20nm FD-SOI Technology with GLOBALFOUNDRIES. ST-Ericsson selected ST FD-SOI technology for use in its future mobile platforms, which will enable enhanced performance from the ST-Ericsson NovaThor platform with much less battery usage. Financial results appendix (unaudited) Consolidated Balance sheet June 30, December 31, In $ million 2012 2011 ASSETS Current assets: Cash and cash equivalents 33 9 Trade accounts receivable, net 50 97 Inventories, net 171 223 Deferred tax assets 10 8 Other receivables and assets 113 102 ------------------- Total current assets 377 439 Goodwill 742 745 Other intangible assets, net 378 437 Property, plant and equipment, net 316 364 Long-term deferred tax assets 218 188 Other investments and other non-current assets 26 70 ------------------- 1,681 1,804 Total assets 2,058 2,243 ------------------- LIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY Current liabilities: Short-term borrowings and current portion of long-term debt 1,238 807 Trade accounts payable 176 175 Other payables and accrued liabilities 296 292 Deferred tax liabilities 0 0 Accrued income tax 7 8 ------------------- Total current liabilities 1,718 1,282 Reserve for pension and termination indemnities 94 87 Long-term deferred tax liabilities 4 3 Other non-current liabilities 25 25 ------------------- 123 115 Total liabilities 1,841 1,397 Total equity 217 846 ------------------- Total liabilities and equity 2,058 2,243 ------------------- 

Footnotes

1) The adjusted operating income/(loss) is defined as the operating income/(loss) reported before amortization of acquisition-related intangibles and restructuring charges and is used by management to help enhance the understanding of ongoing operations and to communicate the impact of the items on the operating loss as reported.

2) Net financial position represents the balance between financial assets, which comprise cash, cash equivalents and short-term deposits, and financial debt which includes bank overdrafts and parent companies short-term bridge credit facilities.

3) Net operating cash flow is defined as net cash from operating activities, less capital expenditure and less restructuring charges.

Notes to editors

ST-Ericsson invites journalists, analysts and investors to a conference call scheduled on July 18 at 12:00 pm (CET). Call-in numbers, a live webcast of the conference call, as well as supporting slides, will be available at [ www.stericsson.com/investors/investors.jsp ].

About ST-Ericsson

ST-Ericsson is a world leader in developing and delivering a complete portfolio of innovative mobile platforms and cutting-edge wireless semiconductor solutions across the broad spectrum of mobile technologies. The company is a leading supplier to the top handset manufacturers and generated sales of $1.7 billion in 2011. ST-Ericsson was established as a 50/50 joint venture by STMicroelectronics (NYSE: [ STM ]) and Ericsson (NASDAQ: [ ERIC ]) in February 2009, with headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland.

[ www.stericsson.com ]

[ www.twitter.com/STEricssonForum ]

The ST-Ericsson results reported in this press release do not reflect in their entirety the results of the Wireless Segment of STMicroelectronics, which include other activities that are not part of ST-Ericsson.

This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve inherent risks and uncertainties. We have identified certain important factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in such forward- looking statements. For a detailed description of risk factors see STMicroelectronics' (NYSE: [ STM ]) and Ericsson's (NASDAQ: [ ERIC ]) filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, particularly each company's latest published Annual Report on Form 20-F.

Second quarter 2012 financial results: [ http://hugin.info/1061/R/1627450/520877.pdf ]

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Source: Ericsson via Thomson Reuters ONE

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