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By Harro Ten Wolde
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Dutch chip equipment maker ASM International has warned of a drop in third-quarter revenue after its orders dropped by a third, sending its shares to a three-month low.
ASM said it expected a double-digit decrease from its second-quarter sales of 148.4 million euros (117 million pound).
"We have seen that some of our customers are absorbing the investments that they have made in the last quarters, which drove the lower order intake in the second quarter," ASM Chief Executive Chuck del Prado said in a statement.
Del Prado told reporters that the drop in orders was in line with the industry trend and said ASM expected to be in a good position to benefit when its customers were ready to invest in new technologies, which is anticipated early next year.
Last week Dutch peer ASML cut its full-year outlook, saying its customers, which include Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, Intel Corp and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd (TSMC), had delayed purchases into 2015.
ASM shares were down 4.4 percent at 29.255 euros by 0745 GMT, having fallen as low as 28.67 euros, their lowest since April. The stock was the biggest loser in a 0.2 percent weaker Dutch midcap index.
"We believe the reported order intake and order intake guidance could provide some downside risk to consensus sales numbers for 2014," said ING Robin van den Broek, sticking to his "buy" recommendation for the stock.
ASM's second-quarter net profit rose to 34.6 million euros from 27.1 million in the first quarter, mainly due to higher results from investments.
Analysts polled by Reuters had on average expected a net profit of 28.6 million euros, with estimates of four analysts ranging from 21 million to 37.6 million.
(Editing by David Holmes)