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                                  UNITED STATES
                       SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
                             WASHINGTON,Washington, D.C. 20549

                                    FORM 10-K

                   [ Xx ] ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SectionSECTION 13
                 OR 15(D)15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

                   FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDED DECEMBERFor the fiscal year ended December 31, 19961997

                                       OR

                    [ ] TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION
               13 OR 15(D)15 (d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

               FOR THE TRANSITION PERIOD FROM     TO

                   COMMISSION FILE NUMBERFor the transition period from ________ to ________

                         Commission file number 0-16244

                             VEECO INSTRUMENTS INC.
                                  (REGISTRANT)

              DELAWARE(Registrant)

                Delaware                               11-2989601
      (State or other jurisdiction                  (I.R.S. Employer
     of incorporation or organization)             Identification No.)

              TERMINAL DRIVETerminal Drive                              11803
            PLAINVIEW, NEW YORKPlainview, New York                        (Zip Code)
 (Address of principal executive offices)

       REGISTRANT'S TELEPHONE NUMBER, INCLUDING AREA CODE:Registrant's telephone number, including area code: (516) 349-8300

           Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:
                                      NONENone
           Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act:
                     COMMON STOCK, PAR VALUECommon Stock, par value $.01 PER SHAREper share

      Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant (1) has filed all reports
required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of
1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the
Registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such
filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes X No ___

      Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item
405 of RegulationRegistration S-K is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to
the best of Registrant's knowledge, in definitive proxy or information
statements incorporated by references in Part III of this Form 10-K or any
amendment to this Form 10-K. [ ]

      The aggregate market value of the voting stock held by non-affiliates of
the Registrant, based on the closing price of the Common Stock on February 24, 1997March 2, 1998
as reported on the Nasdaq National Market, was approximately $130,306,039.$171,781,000.
Shares of Common Stock held by each officer and director and by each person who
owns 5% or more of the outstanding Common Stock have been excluded from this
computation in that such persons may be deemed to be affiliates. This
determination of affiliate status is not necessarily a conclusive determination
for other purposes.

      At February 24, 1997,March 2, 1998, the Registrant had outstanding 5,870,6278,963,160 shares of
Common Stock.

                       DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

       Portions of the Registrant's Proxy Statement for the Annual Meeting
    of Stockholders to be held on May 15, 199728, 1998 are incorporated by reference
                     into Part III of this Form 10-K Report.
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- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------Report

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                                     PART I
                                ITEMItem 1. BUSINESS.

THE COMPANYBusiness.

                                   The Company

      Veeco Instruments Inc. ("Veeco" or the Company)"Company") is a leader in the
design, manufacture, marketing and servicing of a broad line of precision
ion beam
systemsprocess equipment and surfaceprocess metrology systemsequipment used to manufacture and test
microelectronic products for the data storage and manufacture
microelectronic products.semiconductor industries.
Demand for the Company's products has been driven by the increasing
miniaturization of microelectronic components andcomponents; the need for manufacturers to
meet reduced time-to-market schedules while ensuring the quality of those
components.components; and, in the data storage industry, the introduction of new
magnetoresistive (MR) and giant magnetoresistive (GMR) thin film magnetic heads
(TFMHs) which require additional Veeco process steps. The ability of the
Company's products to deposit precise thin films, precisely etch sub-micron
patterns deposit precise thin films and measuremake critical surface conditionsmeasurements in these components enables
manufacturers to achieve highimprove yields and assure quality in the fabrication of advanced
microelectronic devices.devices, such as semiconductor wafers and TFMHs.

      The Company sells its products worldwide to many of the leading data
storage and semiconductor manufacturers, including Seagate Technology, Inc.
("Seagate"), Read-Rite Corp. ("Read-Rite"), IBM Corporation ("IBM"), Motorola,
Inc. ("Motorola"), Applied
Magnetics Corp. ("AMC"), Mitsubishi SemiconductorSAE Magnetics ("Mitsubishi"SAE") and, Quantum Corp. ("Quantum") and
Siemens AG ("Siemens"). In addition, the Company sells its products to companies
in the flat panel display and high frequency device industries, as well as to
other industries, research and development centers and universities.

      The Company acquired its business operations from a company that was
founded in 1945 under the same name (the "Predecessor"). In August 1989, Edward
H. Braun, the Company's Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President, who was
then the Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of the
Predecessor, incorporated Veeco Instruments Acquisition Corp. with certain other
members of the Company's senior management for the purpose of acquiring a
substantial portion of the assets used in the Predecessor's industrial equipment
product group business (the "Equipment Group"). In January 1990, Veeco
Instruments Acquisition Corp. completed its acquisition of these assets (the
"Acquisition") for approximately $29,200,000 and the assumption of substantially
all of the liabilities of the Equipment Group relating to such assets. In
connection with the Acquisition, the Predecessor changed its name to "Lambda
Electronics Inc." and Veeco Instruments Acquisition Corp. changed its name to
"Veeco Instruments Inc."

      On December 6, 1994, the Company completed an initial public offering
(the
"IPO") whereby 2,500,000 shares of Common Stock,common stock, par value $.01 per share (the
"Common("Common
Stock"), were issued and sold at $11.00 per share. The net proceeds were used to
repay the Company's debt and for working capital and other general corporate
purposes.

      On July 31, 1995, the Company completed a publicfollow-on offering (the "Public
Offering") in which
2,300,000 shares of common stockCommon Stock were sold, 800,000 of which were sold by the
Company and 1,500,000 of which were sold by certain selling stockholders, at the
public offering price of $20.00 per share. The net proceeds toreceived by the
Company have been and will be used for working capital and general corporate
purposes, including potential acquisitions.

INDUSTRY BACKGROUND

    MICROELECTRONICS MANUFACTURING PROCESS.Recent Developments

      On February 28, 1998, the Company signed a definitive merger agreement
with Digital Instruments, Inc. of Santa Barbara, California ("Digital"),
pursuant to which the Company will acquire Digital. Under the merger agreement,
each outstanding share of the capital stock of Digital ("Digital Shares") will
be converted into the right to receive that number of shares of Common Stock as
determined by dividing 5,633,725 by the


aggregate number of Digital Shares issued and outstanding immediately prior to
the effective time of the merger, upon surrender to the Company of the
certificates representing such Digital Shares. The merger is intended to be
accounted for as a pooling of interests transaction. The consummation of the
merger is subject to a number of conditions, including approval by the Company's
shareholders, concurrence of the Company's independent accountants with
management's conclusion that the merger may be accounted for as a pooling of
interests and receipt of any necessary governmental and third party consents.
The Company expects the transaction to be consummated in the second quarter of
1998.

      In July 1997, the Company acquired all of the outstanding capital stock of
Wyko Corporation, an Arizona corporation ("Wyko"), through the merger of Veeco
Acquisition Corp., a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company formed for the
purpose of the acquisition, into Wyko. Following the consummation of the
acquisition, Wyko became a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company. Pursuant to
the merger, the former stockholders of Wyko received a total of 2,863,810 shares
of Common Stock, and former optionholders of Wyko received options to purchase
136,190 shares of Common Stock. Wyko designs, manufactures, markets and services
a broad line of high performance, non-contact optical process metrology systems.
The Company believes that the acquisition of Wyko greatly enhances the Company's
process metrology product line by adding products utilizing phase shifting
interferometry ("PSI"), vertical shifting interferometry ("VSI") and other
technologies not previously employed in the Company's process metrology
products. This extension of the Company's product line will enable it to better
serve current customers of the Company's process metrology products and to
attract new customers by offering a broad range of measurement technologies for
yield improvement and integrated test programs.

      In April 1997, the Company acquired certain assets of the Media and
Magnetics Applications Division ("MMA") of Materials Research Corporation. Such
assets were previously employed by MMA in developing a line of high performance
physical vapor deposition sputtering equipment (the "PVD Equipment") used in
advanced MR/GMR thin film head and magnetic disk fabrication. The Company
believes that the acquisition of MMA provides the Company's customers with a
wide selection of deposition technologies to address MR/GMR applications. The
PVD Equipment broadens the Company's process and product capability which also
includes Ion Beam Etch, Diamond Like Carbon and Ion Beam Deposition. As a result
of the acquisition, the Company is capable of handling up to twenty-three etch
and deposition process steps required in the fabrication of a typical MR head.

Industry Background

      Trends in the Data Storage Industry. The market for disk drives has grown
rapidly in recent years, driven by corporate and consumer use of storage
intensive products such as networked personal computers (PCs), Windows NT,
client servers and the Internet, among others. Disk drive storage capacity,
measured in areal density, is similarly increasing rapidly to satisfy this
market demand.

      The capacity of disk drives is largely determined by the capability of the
magnetic recording heads, which read and write signals onto hard disks. With
more storage capacity requiring multiple disks per drive, magnetic head
production is growing faster than the overall disk drive industry. Most magnetic
heads in use have been inductive, but new designs utilize magnetoresistive (MR)
heads and giant magnetoresistive (GMR) heads, which allow the higher areal
densities required to store more data. The manufacture of MR heads is extremely
complex, involving the highly precise layering of magnetic and dielectric
materials.



                                       2


      Trends in the Semiconductor Industry. Similar to the data storage
industry, the demand for semiconductor devices has increased at a tremendous
pace over the last several years. The long-term growth of microelectronic
products has been driven by the trend toward smaller and faster components,
which requires advances in semiconductor processing and metrology equipment.
Current technology trends include smaller feature sizes (sub-.25 micron
linewidths), larger substrates (i.e.: the transition to 300mm wafers) and the
increased use of metrology in the manufacturing process. Fabrication of these
miniaturized components requires an increasing number of manufacturing process
steps. For example, a typical one megabit DRAM with a smallest feature size of
one micron requires approximately 150 manufacturing steps. In comparison, a 64
megabit DRAM is currently being manufactured in volume with a smallest feature
size of .35 microns using approximately 350 manufacturing steps. The increased
number of manufacturing steps in semiconductor and TFMH fabrication includes
greater use of precise etching and deposition equipment and process metrology
systems to ensure critical process control and product quality. Growth in the
etching, deposition and process metrology markets is driven by end-users'
requirements for greater performance capabilities, and by the increasing
miniaturization of components, which has resulted in a demand for equipment
capable of etching and measuring sub-micron features (i.e. below one micron).

      Microelectronics Manufacturing Process. Semiconductor devices (e.g.,
integrated circuits) and mass memory data storage devices (TFMHs) are fabricated by
performing a complex series of process steps on a silicon substrate or wafer.
The three primary categories of wafer processing steps are deposition,
photolithography and etching. During deposition, layers of conductive or
insulating films are deposited on an unpatterned wafer. During photolithography
(also known as "patterning"), the wafer is covered with light-sensitive material
called photoresist, which is then exposed to light projected in patterns which
form integrated circuit components. During etching (which may be accomplished by
several processes, including ion beam etching), certain areas of the patterned
(metal or insulating) film are removed to leave the desired circuit pattern. Ion
beam etching involves a precisely controlled, highly collimated broad ion beam
removing material from a substrate by physically sputtering any material not
protected by a finely patterned photo resist mask. Ion beam systems are also
increasingly important for the deposition of thin films. Physical vapor
deposition provides a thin film coating process by means of sputtering.

      Each of these steps is 

                                          1
 typically repeated several times during the
fabrication process, with alternating layers of conducting and insulating films
being deposited each time to create a multi-layered structure. Similarly, the
production of thin film magnetic heads includes many steps of patterning, etch
and deposition.

      The resulting finished wafer or TFMH consists of many integrated circuits.
Depending on the specific design of a given integrated circuit, a variety of
film thickness and a number of layers and film types will be used to achieve
desired performance characteristics. SurfaceProcess metrology systems are used
repeatedly throughout the fabrication process to monitor process accuracy and
repeatability by measuring critical dimensions and other physical propertiesfeatures such
as film thickness, line width, step height, sidewall angle and surface
roughness. PRECISION ETCHING, DEPOSITION AND SURFACE METROLOGY MARKET REQUIREMENTS.
The Company sells its ion beam systems and surface metrology products to
manufacturers of microelectronic devices (primarily inIn the data storage industry, there has recently been a trend toward
the increased use of in-line metrology products for yield improvement and
semiconductor industries), whichintegrated test programs in turn supply the broader worldwide
electronics markets, as well asproduction of TFMHs and hard disks. Since the
new heads are more complicated to industrial and other customers.  As the rangemanufacture, there is a greater need for 100%
testing of end products has expanded to include items such as hand-held and lap-top
computers and consumer cellular telecommunications products, the performance and
complexity of semiconductor and data storage devices have expanded as well.
Fabrication of these miniaturized components requires increasing numbers of
manufacturingcritical process steps. (For example, a typical one megabyte DRAM with a
smallest feature size of one micron is manufactured using approximately 200
manufacturing steps. In comparison, a 64 megabyte DRAM is currently being
manufactured in volume with a smallest feature size of .35 micron using
approximately 500 manufacturing steps.) The increased number of manufacturing
steps includes greater use of precise etching and deposition equipment and
surface metrology systems to ensure critical process control and semiconductor
product quality. Growth in the etching, deposition and surface metrology markets
is driven by end-users' requirements for greater performance capabilities, and
by the increasing miniaturization of components, which has resulted in a demand
for equipment capable of etching and measuring sub-micron features (i.e., below
one micron).

      Manufacturers base their purchases of metrology systems on a variety of
criteria, including resolution, accuracy, repeatability, and ease of use, total cost
of ownership (which depends upon factors including system cost, throughput,
reliability, operating costs, up-time and service response time), and the value of
the data produced which depends onand the accuracy and speed with which the measurement
parameter (for example, step height or film thickness) can be determined. In
addition, as metrology systems are incorporated into the production process,
automated features such as cassette-to-cassette wafer handling and pattern
recognition have become



                                       3
increasingly important, as has the ability of a system to communicate with other
systems within the manufacturing process.

ION BEAM SYSTEMS.Veeco's Products

      Process Equipment

      The fabrication of integrated circuits and thin film
magnetic heads (for the hard drive industry) requires some form of etching to
create the pattern of either an electrical circuit or a mechanical feature.
Historically, the industry has utilized several older etching techniques,
including chemical wet etching and plasma etching,Company's process equipment product line, which offer limited control
of critical dimensions, require the use of reactive chemistries, and produce
undesired isotropic etching results.

    As device geometries have decreased and the need for sub-micron features
etched with accurate side wall angles has increased, the use of collimatedincludes ion beam
etching has expanded. Compared with other etching technologies,and deposition (deposition includes ion beam etching permits precise sub-micron, low temperature, low pressure anisotropic
(highly directional) etching of any material, including many multi-layered films
which cannot be etched by known reactive chemical processes.

    With ion beam etching, a precisely controlled, highly collimated broad ion
beam removes material from a substrate by physically sputtering any material not
protected by a finely patterned photo resist mask. Examples of ion beam etched
products include high density thin film magnetic heads, high frequency
telecommunication devices, infrared detectors, ferroelectric memory devices, and
microsensors. The Company's ion beam etch equipment is used in multiple
fabrication process steps in the  production of  thin  film magnetic heads, for
both 

                                          2



circuit patterning and micromachining. As the demand for multi-layer, integrated
circuits and microsensors with sub-micron features grows, the Company believes
the demand for its ion beam etching systems will increase.

    Ion beam systems are also increasingly important for the deposition of thin
films. Historically these films have been deposited either by electro-chemical
processes or cathodic sputtering. Ion beam(IBD),
diamond-like carbon coating deposition offers greater control of
deposition rate, film morphology and minimized contaminants than do the
historical processes. In addition to thin film magnetic heads, applications
include tribological coatings for magnetic media, protective coatings for
plastic and glass lenses, passivation layers for optoelectronics, and
interference coatings and mirrors for precision optics.

    SURFACE METROLOGY SYSTEMS. Microelectronic device manufacturers use surface
metrology systems to measure critical dimensions and physical properties such as
film thickness, line width, step height, sidewall angle and surface roughness to
ensure that products are being manufactured to increasingly demanding
specifications. Surface metrology systems are used throughout the manufacturing
process to monitor the accuracy of the manufacturing process.

    Metrology systems capable of measuring dimensions above one micron include
stylus surface profilers, scanning electron microscopes ("SEMs") and optical
measurement systems. In response to decreasing geometries and increasingly
complex processes and specifications, a demand has grown for new surface
measurement systems which permit measurement of sub-micron features on a three-
dimensional basis. To meet this demand, the Companyvapor deposition), offers the SXM Workstation
which incorporates atomic force microscopy ("AFM") technology including
non-contact, non-destructive scanning features with the ability to measure
critical dimensions as small as 0.25 microns. The Company believes that demand
for products incorporating non-contact AFM technology will grow, as product
complexities continue to increase and as component geometries continue to
decrease.

    INDUSTRIAL MEASUREMENT PRODUCTS. Thickness measurement systems measure the
thickness and composition of metals used in printed circuit boards and
electronic components, as well as in the general metal finishing industries.
Products in this category rely on a variety of measurement technologies,
including Beta Backscatters, resistivity probes, Hall-Effect, eddy-current and
electromagnetic-induction, as well as XRF-based products. XRF systems operate by
generating a collimated X-Ray beam which is directed at a sample, causing the
sample to emit characteristic X-Ray fluorescence. A proportional counter detects
the X-Ray fluorescence and generates corresponding electrical impulses, which
are used to calculate and display the plating thickness or alloy composition of
the sample. The Company believes that the XRF market will continue to grow, as
increased accuracy and advances in measurement technology, together with on-line
production and lower cost systems, bring XRF technology into new applications.

    Leak detectors, which provide a non-destructive precise identification of
the size and location of leaks in sealed components, are used in a
broad range of electronic, aerospace and transportationtechnologically advanced products with applicationsto customers in the production of automotive airbags,data
storage and semiconductor devices, air conditioning and
refrigeration, chemical valves, medical devices and fiber optic cable
production.

                                          3


 

PRODUCTSindustries. The Company's process equipment products
encompass equipment and systemsare used in the manufacture of microelectronics products.  The following table summarizes the
Company's major products in each of its product lines and the principal
industries to which it offers such products:

VEECO PRODUCT OFFERINGS ----------------------- University and Research and Semi- Data Flat Panel Industrial Product conductor Storage Display Development - -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ION BEAM SYSTEMS ETCHING SYSTEMS: Microetch Air to Air Batch Systems x x x Microetch Cluster Systems x x x DEPOSITION SYSTEMS: Secondary Ion Beam Sputtering Systems x x x Direct Ion Beam (Diamond Like Coating) x Deposition Systems SURFACE METROLOGY PRODUCTS Dektak Stylus Profilers x x x x Dektak FPD Surface Profilers x x Dektak Atomic Force Microscope x x x TMS Microroughness Scatterometers x x x INDUSTRIAL MEASUREMENT PRODUCTS XRF-Series X-Ray Fluorescence x x Measurement Systems SEA-Series Micro X-Ray Fluorescence x x x Measurement Systems Portable Mass Spectrometer Leak Detectors x x x Console Mass Spectrometer Leak Detectors x x x Industrial Mass Spectrometer Leak Detectors x
ION BEAM SYSTEMSincluding MR/GMR TFMHs. The Company develops and produces ion beam etching systems, sold under the Microetch brand name. These systems can etch precise, complex features and deposit thin films for use primarily by data storage and semiconductor manufacturers in the fabrication of discrete and integrated microelectronic devices. Veecodevices such as TFMHs. The Company believes that it holds the leadership position in the overall market for ion beam etching systems, and believes that it is the leading seller of ion beam systems utilized for production of thin film magnetic heads. Since the Acquisition, the Company has sold over 200 ion beam systems. Ion beam deposition provides greater control of precise deposition rate, film morphology and incorporated contaminants than traditional processes used in the manufacture of semiconductors or mass memory storage devices. Ion beams can be used two ways to deposit films. Beams can directly deposit material by braking down a feed gas and accelerating non-volatile components at the substrate in a controlled manner (e.g., diamond like carbon coatings for thin film magnetic head slider coatings); or, a beam can be directed at a material 4 target of the required element or alloy, and have an ion beam sputtered film precisely deposited on the substrate (e.g., giant magneto-resistive read elements in thin film magnetic heads). Ion beam etching permits precise submicron low temperature etching of any material, including many which cannot be etched by other processes, and has emerged as a leading fabrication process in the thin film magnetic head (hard drive)data storage industry for both circuit patterning and micromachining. This technology is utilized in multiple steps of the advanced thin film magnetic head fabrication process. In addition, as the demand for integrated circuits and microsensors with sub-micron features grows, the Company believes the demand for ion beam etching systems will increase. The Company's ion beam etching product line has progressed from use principally in research and development applications to automated systems used in production. This evolution was driven by the incorporation of features such as automated wafer handling, advanced substrate cooling technique and load-locked process control which increases throughput and wafer yield. Ion beam deposition provides greater control of precise deposition rate, film morphology and incorporated contaminants than traditional processes used in the manufacture of semiconductors or data storage devices. Ion beams can be used two ways to deposit films. Beams can directly deposit material by breaking down a feed gas and accelerating non-volatile components at the substrate in a controlled manner (e.g., diamond like carbon coatings for thin film magnetic head slider coatings); or, a beam can be directed at a material target of the required element or alloy, and have an ion beam sputtered film precisely deposited on the substrate (e.g., giant magneto-resistive read elements in thin film magnetic heads). The Company's PVD systems provide a thin film coating process by means of sputtering. PVD systems are used throughout the thin film magnetic head industry to deposit thin films as well as insulating materials for construction of the read and write elements for magnetic storage devices. Sales of ion beamprocess equipment systems were approximately $53,213,000,$84,530,000, $53,198,000 and $33,184,000 and $20,984,000 and accounted for approximately 54.9%51%, 45.9%,46% and 42.4%39% of the Company's net sales for the years ended December 31, 1997, 1996 and 1995, respectively. 4 The following table summarizes the Company's major products in its process equipment product line and 1994, respectively.the principal industries to which it offers such products:
Veeco Process Equipment Product Offerings ----------------------------------------- Optical, Data Semi- Industrial Product Storage conductor & Research ------- ------- --------- ---------- Etching Systems: Microetch Single Substrate Loadlock System............... x x x Microetch Single Cassette Loadlock System................ x x x Microetch Cluster System................................. x x x Deposition Systems: Ion Beam Deposition System............................... x x x Diamond Like Carbon Deposition System.................... x x PVD System............................................... x
The ion beam systemsprocess equipment product line consists of the following: MICROETCH AIR TO AIR BATCH ION BEAM ETCHING SYSTEMS.Microetch Single Substrate Loadlock System. The RF-1201RF350 is an air-to-air systemsIon Beam etch system which receives substrates from a single substrate loadlock. Loadlock is a transfer module from which substrates are moved to the process chamber without breaking the process chamber vacuum. The RF350 provides submicron, low temperature, low pressure anisotropic (highly directional) etching of any material, including many multi-layer films that cannot be etched by known reactive processes. This system is ideal for R&D environments which do not require automated handling of multiple substrates for high throughput batch processing for deep trench (long etch) feature applications.volume work. These systems are priced in the range of $600,000 to $700,000. Microetch Single Cassette Loadlock System. The RF350S is a single cassette loadlock system which can automatically process a cassette load of substrates from the loadlock. This system is used in higher volume manufacturing applications and can handle heavier substrates such as "row bars" which are many TFMHs grouped onto individual carriers. The RF350 and the RF350S feature an RF ion source that provides higher etch rates and increased time between maintenance. Sales prices forThese systems are priced in the Company's Airrange of $800,000 to Air Batch Systems range from $450,000$950,000. Each Process Equipment product is available as a single loadlock system or in a Cluster tool configuration. The cluster system has multiple cassette and multiple process chamber capability. These systems provide flexibility and throughput by either permitting the etch process to $550,000. MICROETCH CLUSTER ION BEAM ETCHING AND DEPOSITION SYSTEMS. The Cluster System has been developed for next-generation requirements of sub-micron etching and deposition. The system can be configured foroccur in up to three parallel chambers or by combining ion beam etch with ion beam deposition or depositionphysical vapor deposition. A wide array of process modules on a common platform and provides maximum throughput withoperations is possible without having to remove the substrate from the high vacuum environment. These systems have the advantage of single wafer etching for uniformity, repeatability and deposition for process control and uniformity.control. The system is targeted at the most advanced next-generation thin film magnetic head and semiconductor memory and high frequency device customers.applications. The Cluster System utilizescluster system uses the Company's enhanced control system and patented "Flowcool""flow cool" substrate cooling technology. Sales prices for the Company's Cluster Systemssystems range from $1,000,000$1,100,000 to $2,500,000. SECONDARY ION BEAM SPUTTERING SYSTEMS. Secondary$3,100,000. Ion Beam Deposition Systems. IBD-350 ion beam sputteringdeposition systems utilize the process module concept of the etching systems, allowing the deposition module to be mated to Veeco'sthe Company's Cluster System platform to allow either parallel or sequential etch/deposition processes. These systems are available as automatic load locked cassette to cassette system or as automatic single substrate systems.The IBD-350 offers high purity thin film layers and maximum uniformity and repeatability. Sales prices for the Company's Secondary Ion Beam SputteringDeposition Systems range from $750,000 to $2,000,000. DIRECT ION BEAM DEPOSITION SYSTEMS. Veeco's ion beam direct deposit$2,600,000. 5 Diamond-Like Carbon Deposition Systems. The Company's DLC-350V diamond like carbon deposition system has been developed to deposit tribologicalprotective coatings on advanced thin film head sliders.TFMHs. The system consists of a single substrate carriercassette vacuum load lock and a high vacuum processing chamber with two ion beam sources. Sales prices of these systems range from approximately $600,000 to $1,000,000. SURFACE METROLOGY EQUIPMENT Veeco's surfacePhysical Vapor PVD Systems. The Company's PVD Cymetra systems are available in either a planetary or static configuration which can be used to deposit films in several ways. The planetary configuration produces a high degree of uniformity, repeatability and process control. Multiple targets of different materials are provided in a single chamber to permit deposition of a stack of films. The planetary systems range in price from $1,400,000 to $2,500,000. The PVD Cymetra systems are also available in static configurations. These consist of individual chambers dedicated to a single target material. The static systems range in price from $650,000 to $1,600,000. Process Metrology Equipment The Company's process metrology product line, which includes stylus surface profilers, the non-contact atomic force microscope workstation andmicroscopes, laser based scatterometers and optical interferometers, offers a widebroad range of innovative products to customers in the semiconductor, data storage and flat panel display industries, as well as in other industries. Sales of the Company's surfaceprocess metrology equipment were approximately $23,902,000, $20,830,000,$61,431,000, $42,090,000 and $13,184,000$34,296,000 and accounted for approximately 24.7%37%, 28.8%,37% and 26.7%40% of the Company's net sales for the years ended December 31, 1997, 1996 and 1995, respectively. The following table summarizes the Company's major products in its process metrology equipment product line and 1994, respectively. 5 STYLUS SURFACE PROFILERSthe principal industries to which it offers such products:
Veeco Process Metrology Product Offerings ----------------------------------------- Optical, Industrial, Data Semi- Flat Panel Research & Product Storage conductor Display Micro-Machining ------- ------- --------- ------- --------------- Dektak Stylus Profilers ......................... X X X Dektak Flat Panel Display Profilers ............ X Dektak Atomic Force Microscope .................. X X Dektak TMS Scatterometers ....................... X X Wyko NT 2000 Optical Profilers .................. X X Wyko SP3000 Bump Measurement Profiler System .... X Wyko HD 2000 Optical Profilers .................. X X Wyko Macro-Contour Measurement System ........... X X Wyko SATIS Static Attitude Test Inspection System X X
Stylus Profilers The Company's stylus surface profiler systems are manufactured by its subsidiary Sloan Technology Corp. ("Sloan") at its facility in Santa Barbara, California. Sloan'sThe Company's line of stylus surface profiler systems all utilize the same principle of operation. A precision translation stage movescreates relative motion between the wafer, or sample beneathand a diamond tipped stylus. As the sample moves under the stylus, surface variations cause vertical translation of the stylus, which is tracked and measured. This data is then used to produce cross-sectional representations and/or a magnified contour map, which is displayed on a video monitor. Stylus surface profilers' applications include height, width, pitch and roughness measurements of features on semiconductor devices, magnetic and optical storage media (e.g., hard 6 drives), flat panel displays, and hybrid circuits. The Company believes that its stylus surface profiler products are recognized for their accuracy, repeatability, ease of use and technology features, as well as features designed for industry specifications and customer needs. Each of the Company's stylus surface profilers incorporates a proprietary software package. Since the Acquisition, the Company has sold over 1,100 stylus surface profiler systems. The Company's stylus surface profiler products include: DEKTAK STYLUS PROFILERS.Dektak Stylus Profilers. The Dektak line of stylus profilers permits testing of wafers, hard disks, circuit hybrids, optics and other precision surfaces. In July 1996, Veeco surface metrology introduced the V300SI, the first model of its new Series V stylus profiler product line which includes the V300SL, V200SI and V200SL as well. The Series V product line is the next generationconsists of advanced stylus profilers which incorporatesincorporate leading edge performance and features such as photo-like 3D rendering software, the LIH2a low inertia / inertia/low force stylus head, high precision stage control and positioning, host communication software and mini-environment compatible design for operation in fully automated labmanufacturing environments. The V300SI is a 300mm profiler designed specifically for next generation 300mm wafer labs,fabs, and is the industry's first 300mm stylus profiler. The Dektak stylus profilers can sample up to 65,000 points per scan, which is particularly important for applications such as hard disk substrates and optics analysis. The Dektak D3 and D3ST models are designed for measuring fine geometries on 150mm and smaller samples. These systems are used for both thick-film hybrid and thin film microelectronic applications. Sales prices of the Dektak stylus profilers range from approximately $30,000 to $205,000. DEKTAK FLAT PANEL DISPLAY PROFILERS.$300,000. Dektak Flat Panel Display Profilers. The Dektak FPD SurfaceOSP Stylus Profilers are designed to measure deposition thickness and surface roughness during manufacture of flat panel display.display (FPDs). In May 1997, the Company introduced the OSP 1100, an innovative overhead scanning profiler for very large FPD substrates and assemblies. The OSP 1100 offers the largest sample handling capability in the industry while providing a smaller footprint and greater performance than any other comparable tool. These advanced surface profilers are capable of precise measurements of step heights, line widths and surface texture of flat panel substrate up to 720mm1100mm x 720mm.1100mm. In addition, this product line offers a cassette-to-cassette wafer handling option and pattern recognition for fully automated operation. Sales prices of the Dektak FPD SurfaceOSP Stylus Profilers range from approximately $100,000 to $300,000. NON-CONTACT ATOMIC FORCE MICROSCOPE WORKSTATIONNon-Contact Atomic Force Microscopes The Company is IBM's exclusive worldwide sales and marketing representative to market, sell and service the IBM-manufactured SXM WorkstationAtomic Force Microscopes to the semiconductor industry and data storage industries. See "- Strategic Alliances." The AFM technology used in the SXM Workstationproducts is a variation of a technique invented by two IBM scientists who shared the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1986 for their invention. The SXM Workstation is anAtomic Force Microscopes are automated, in-line manufacturing inspection tooltools which isare capable of non-contact, non-destructive nanometer scale three dimensional measurement and imaging of sub-micron structures in ambient conditions. (A nanometer is equal to one-billionth of a meter.) By scanning a probe tip across a surface at a distance of approximately 30 angstroms or less, extremely precise measurements of sub-microscopic features can be produced, with resolution down to less than three angstroms.angstroms or less. These measurements include height, width, roughness and sidewall angle characteristics. A "critical dimension" (CD) option permits the user to profile vertical sidewalls, measure sidewall angles and obtain true width measurements of sub-micron lines and trenches. Unlike alternative technologies, the SXM Workstation hasAtomic Force Microscopes have the unique ability to make precise three dimensional 6 measurements without damaging or breaking the wafer, which at the time of measurement may have a manufacturing cost of between $10,000 and $100,000. The Company believes that the SXM Workstation represents a significant extension of the stylus surface profiler instrument line produced by Sloan. By permitting measurements on features with dimensions as small as 0.250.18 microns, and on substrates measuring 200 mm or 300 mm, the Company believes that SXM Atomic Force Microscopes provide the SXM Workstation provides the7 precise measurements that semiconductordata storage and data storagesemiconductor manufacturers require in their current and next generation products. See "--Strategic"-Strategic Alliances." Sales prices of the SXM WorkstationAtomic Force Microscopes range from approximately $600,000$750,000 to $1,000,000. Since its introduction in the third quarter of 1993, the$1,250,000. Laser-Based Scatterometer The Company has sold 33 SXM Workstations. LASER BASED SCATTEROMETER Veeco is Schmitt Measurement Systems'Systems, Inc.'s ("SMS"Schmitt") exclusive distributor for the Texture Measurement System ("TMS") product line for all regions of the world excluding Japan. The TMS products are laser based scatterometers which directly measure microroughness using a technique referred to as Total Integrated Scatter or T.I.S. The TMS productproducts quickly and repeatably measure microroughness as small as a few angstroms for applications such as disk texture for the hard drive industry as well as backside/frontside roughness of bare silicon wafers. The TMS product line includes the TMS 2000 for hard drive disks, the TMS 2000W for wafers up to 200mm in diameter and the TMS 3000W for 300mm wafers. In December 1997, the Company introduced the DTM 2000, a high speed automated disk inspection tool, capable of processing up to 1200 disks/hour. Pricing of these systems ranges from $65,000 to $165,000. Optical Interferometry Products The Company's interferometry process metrology products are produced by Wyko at its facility in Tucson, Arizona. Substantially all Wyko instruments are designed to make non-contact surface measurements using interferometry technology. Wyko instruments employ either white light or laser sources to measure surface roughness and shape by creating interference patterns from the optical path difference between the test surface and a reference surface. Using a combination of phase shifting interferometry (PSI) and vertical scanning interferometry (VSI), these instruments are designed to rapidly and precisely measure and characterize a range of surface sizes and shapes. Micro-Structure Measurements. Wyko pioneered the use of PSI, developed in 1983, and VSI, developed in 1992, to measure surfaces as smooth as .03 nanometers or as rough as 2 millimeters. Interferometry, coupled with microcomputers and state of the art software, is a powerful method of rapidly measuring and characterizing surface microstructure on a variety of surface types. Wyko's current principal micro-structure surface measurement equipment products consist of: NT 2000. Manufacturers of precision parts and components use the NT 2000 line of microstructure measurement instruments to measure surface roughness, heights, and shapes. Customers use the Wyko systems because they are non-contact, offer both areal measurements and high-resolution linear profiles and provide high-precision, quantitative results with extensive software analysis. The NT 2000 incorporates both PSI and VSI to obtain measurement results on surfaces as smooth as 0.3 nanometers or as rough as 2 millimeters. This combination of technologies provides the basis for a broad range of applications in many industries. The semiconductor industry uses these instruments to measure wafer roughness, CMP polishing pad surfaces and wafer edges. Manufacturers in semiconductor-related industries use the NT 2000 for measuring probe card patterns, IC patterns, microsensors, magnetic ink, detector arrays and micro-machined devices in silicon. As an engineering research and development instrument, or a failure analysis tool used by quality engineering 8 departments, the data generated during measurement may be analyzed by the Wyko Vision(TM) proprietary software package that includes statistical analysis, image processing, database options and graphical displays. Wyko has also developed special packaging and software applications to extend the NT 2000 technology nationally and internationally to a broad industry base. Extensions include applications for automotive engine cylinder measurements and analox roll testing in the print industry. Sales prices of the NT2000 range from $110,000 to $280,000. SP3000. For advanced packaging applications, Wyko has developed a specialized version of the NT 2000 (identified as the SP3000 Bump Measurement Profiler System) for measuring surface height, bump volume and diameter and bump coplanarity on silicon wafers and ceramic substrates. This instrument provides greater accuracy than traditional laser scanning techniques which may miss peaks, underestimate heights, and are often less determinate in focusing with coatings. The SP3000 accommodates 4 to 8 inch wafers without any hardware change. The fully-automated SP3000 integrates a vertical scanning interference microscope (based on the NT 2000) with precision robotic wafer handling and Wyko's measurement and analysis software. The SP3000 provides rapid, accurate and repeatable measurements of surfaces at the bump, die, wafer, substrate and lot level and reports bump statistics in accordance with pre-configured computerized instructions on bump location and pass/fail criteria. Measurements are compared to the customer's drawings, which disclose feature locations to automatically determine missing, bridged and extra features. Sales prices of the SP3000 range from $360,000 to $480,000. HD 2000. The HD 2000 instruments are a line of microstructure measurement equipment used by manufacturers of mass memory components including manufacturers of heads, disks, drives and suspensions. Manufacturers of mass memory components use the HD 2000 to measure surface roughness, heights, and shape. These customers use the Wyko systems because they are non-contact, fast, repeatable, and offer both areal measurement and high-resolution linear profiles and provide high-precision, quantitative results with extension software analysis specific to this industry. HD 2000 instruments are used for research and development, production control, process improvement, final parts inspection, incoming parts inspection, and field failure analysis. The Wyko proprietary software for the HD 2000 provides a number of benefits to Wyko customers including immediate feedback on new head design parameters, reduction in the product design cycle, and a reduction in the time required to transfer new product designs from engineering to manufacturing. Sales prices of the HD2000 range from $90,000 to $170,000. Macro-Contour Measurements. Macro-contour measurement equipment is designed to obtain measurements of part sizes ranging from less than one inch to 24 inches. Wyko instruments used to measure surface figure are typically of Fizeau or Twyman-Green interferometry designs and incorporate algorithms for phase ramping, phase stepping, phase unwrapping, data reduction and analysis. A primary application for the macro-contour instruments is in the measurement of hard disk shape in the mass memory market. These instruments measure the flatness and performance parameters of disks at each stage in the manufacturing process. Manufacturers use these instruments to measure disks made of a range of substrates including metals, glass and ceramics. Wyko macro-contour instruments are used to monitor performance throughout the production process, including unpolished disk blanks, in-process disks during polishing, and disks assembled in drives. All macro-contour instruments include Wyko proprietary software for analyzing shape, runout, velocity and acceleration. Data may be analyzed graphically in three dimensions, two-dimensional profiles, and contour plots. 9 Macro-contour measurement equipment is also used in the optics industry to measure optical surface figure and transmitted wavefront accuracy. Sales prices of the macro-contour measurement system range from $41,000 to $110,000. INDUSTRIAL MEASUREMENT EQUIPMENT Veeco'sAngle and Distance Measurements. In 1994, Wyko introduced the Static Attitude Test probe (SAT). In collaboration with its leading customers, Wyko combined laser triangulation and auto-collimation to produce an instrument to accurately measure the position and angular orientation of the surface of the suspensions used in magnetic head production. With the Static Attitude Test Inspection System ("SATIS"), a sophisticated fixture properly references the position of the suspension relative to its mounting boss and elevator point positions. In manual mode, an operator uses a micrometer to set the offset distance while monitoring the distance on a computer screen. The measurement is made in less than one fifth of a second. Software provides rapid data analysis. Sales prices of the SATIS is system range from $55,000 to $100,000. Industrial Measurement Equipment The Company's industrial measurement products include X-Ray fluorescence thickness measurement systems as well as leak detection/vacuum equipment. These products have applications in a wide range of industries including electronic, aerospace, transportation and semiconductor. Sales of industrial measurement equipment were approximately $19,717,000,$19,447,000, $19,754,000 and $18,345,000 and $15,266,000 and accounted for approximately 20.4%12%, 25.3%,17% and 30.9%21% of the Company's net sales, respectively, for the years ended December 31, 1997, 1996 and 1995, and 1994. UPA TECHNOLOGY X-RAY FLUORESCENCE THICKNESS MEASUREMENT SYSTEMSrespectively. X-Ray Fluorescence Thickness Measurement Systems The Company believes that its XRF systems incorporate an advanced technology for non-destructive thickness and composition measurement of plated parts, providing high accuracy and precision on a cost-effective basis. As industries increase their emphasis on tighter process control manufacturing specifications (e.g., ISO 9000), XRF technology has become important due to its speed, repeatability, accuracy and non-destructive measurement capability. Due to increased miniaturization of components in the microelectronics industry and the increased need for on-line production testing, the Company believes that the XRF market will continue to grow and that XRF technology will be brought into new applications, such as fine-pitch printed circuit board production and the measurement of multi-layered microelectronic and metal finishing corrosion resistant coatings. Veeco'sThe Company's XRF products incorporate the Company's XPert software package, which operates in an MS-DOS or Microsoft Windows environment and offers features including advanced user-friendly interface and sophisticated statistical data analysis. Veeco'sThe Company's XRF product line includes the following products: XRF SERIES.XR Series. The XRFXR Series is an advanced XRF product line designed to measure plating thickness and composition for the high-end circuit board and microelectronics interconnect, packaging and data storage applications. The XRFXR Series has a small diameter beam, automated servo driven staging and laser focus capability. The software, which operates in the Microsoft Windows environment, features a real-time video window, a user configurable interface, and point and shoot sample positioning. Sales prices for the XRFXR Series range from approximately $15,000$30,000 to $60,000. 7 $175,000. SEA SERIES.Series. The SEA Series, produced by Seiko Instruments and marketed in North America and Europe by Veeco,the Company, features micro XRF measurement capabilities for deposition thickness, composition and uniformity of thin film magnetic pole structures, hard disks and microelectronic devices. It also provides the ability to analyze the constituent elements of a bulk sample-elemental analysis. Sales prices of these products range from approximately $50,000 to $170,000. See "--Strategic"-Strategic Alliances." LEAK DETECTION/VACUUM EQUIPMENT10 Leak Detection/Vacuum Equipment For over 50 years, the Company (and its predecessors) have produced mass spectrometry leak detection equipment used for the non-destructive precise identification of the size and location of leaks in sealed components. Leak detectors are used in a broad range of electronic, aerospace and transportation products, with applications in the production of automotive airbags, semiconductor devices, air conditioning and refrigeration components, chemical valves, medical devices such as pacemakers, and fiber optic cable production. Since the Acquisition, the Company has sold more than 1,000 leak detectors throughout the world and services an installed base of approximately 5,000 units, including portable and console units. The Company also produces vacuum components, including vacuum pumping stations and gauges, which are sold primarily to research and university customers. Veeco'sThe Company's leak detection product line includes the following products: AUTOMATIC PORTABLE LEAK DETECTORS.Automatic Portable Leak Detectors. Fully automatic low-cost portable leak detectors provide gross and fine leak detection for a wide range of applications, including use in semiconductor cleanrooms. They feature automatic tuning and calibrating and require minimal operator training. Sales prices of the portable leak detectors range from approximately $20,000 to $30,000. CONSOLE LEAK DETECTORS.Console Leak Detectors. Designed for production use, Veeco'sthe Company's line of console leak detectors feature an automatic monitor display and a unique dual mass spectrometer for high resolution and accuracy. Sales prices of the console leak detectors range from approximately $30,000 to $40,000.$50,000. ILD-4000 INDUSTRIAL LEAK DETECTION SYSTEMS.Industrial Leak Detection Systems. The ILD-4000's are industrial leak detection systems for high production, in-line process testing applications. Sales prices of the industrial leak detectors range from approximately $60,000$70,000 to $200,000. STRATEGIC ALLIANCES$2,000,000. Magnetic Vacuum Annealing Oven. The MVAO 1000 Magnetic Vacuum Annealing Oven is designed to heat and magnetically align thin film layers during the manufacturing process of TFMHs. Sales prices range from $500,000 to $1,500,000. Strategic Alliances The Company's overall business strategy includes the formation of alliances with strategic partners with complementary products or businesses, to assist the Company in gaining access to new markets, technologies and products. IBM AGREEMENT.Agreement. As part of its strategic alliance strategy, theThe Company is party to an agreementagreements with IBM (as amended, the "IBM Agreement") with respect to the IBM-manufactured Atomic Force Microscopes ("SXM Workstation.Products") one of which is in the development phase. Pursuant to the IBM Agreement, the Company has been appointed exclusive worldwide sales and marketing representative to market, service and sell the SXM WorkstationProducts to customers in the semiconductor and data storage industries. TheWith respect to one type of SXM Product, the IBM Agreement expires in October 1998 and the Company, at its option, may extend the agreement to October 2000. With respect to the other type of SXM Product, the IBM Agreement expires three years from the product completion date (which the Company anticipates to be in July 1998) or around July 2001 and the Company, at its option, may extend the agreement for an additional two years. Pursuant to the IBM Agreement, the Company has agreed to purchase a minimum number of SXM Workstations.Products. At December 31, 1996,1997, the Company's aggregate purchase commitment under this agreementthe IBM Agreement was approximately $2,250,000.$8,000,000. Pursuant to the IBM Agreement, in the event that IBM (a) discontinues production of either of the SXM Workstation,Products, (b) is unable to provide sufficient production of either of the SXM Workstation,Products, or (c) fails to 11 provide required support for either of the SXM Workstation,Products, IBM has agreed to grant to the Company an exclusive worldwide license to manufacture thesuch SXM WorkstationProduct for sale to the semiconductor and data storage industries. In such event, the parties have agreed to negotiate a mutually agreeable royalty and license agreement. 8 In the event of such a discontinuance, the Company's ability to manufacture and distribute the SXM WorkstationProducts on a timely basis could be disrupted until such time as the Company's production operations for the SXM WorkstationProducts are established and the parties conclude the royalty and license agreement. IBM is obligated to ship productsSXM Products for which orders have been accepted by IBM prior to the effective date of such discontinuance, and to provide the Company with an opportunity to purchase reasonableadditional quantities of the SXM WorkstationProducts to meet the Company's requirements. Under the IBM Agreement, IBM would not be liable for any lost profits or other consequential damages (including damages based upon third-party claims) incurred by the Company as a result of IBM's actions (or inactions) with respect to the IBM Agreement. Pursuant to the IBM Agreement, IBM may, and has in the past, licensed intellectual property rights relating to AFM technology to third parties. VEECO/SEIKO INSTRUMENTS AGREEMENTS. In July 1993, Veeco entered into agreements with Seiko Instruments (the "Veeco/Seiko Instruments Agreements"), pursuant to which, among other things, Veeco became the exclusive sales agent and servicer of Seiko Instruments' XRF products in North America, South America and Europe, and Seiko Instruments became Veeco's distribution, marketing and servicing representative in Japan and other parts of Asia. The Veeco/Seiko Instruments Agreements, in addition to providing Veeco with enhanced access to the Japanese and other Asian markets for its XRF products, also give Veeco access to Seiko Instruments' large installed customer base in the United States and broadens Veeco's product line. Under the Veeco/Seiko Instruments Agreements, Veeco is required to purchase for sale in North America, South America and Europe a minimum of Seiko Instruments' XRF products (measured by sales volume), and Seiko Instruments is required to purchase for sale in Japan and other parts of Asia a minimum of the UPA Technology XRF products (measured by sales volume). These minimum requirements are to be re-negotiated by Veeco and Seiko Instruments for each twelve-month period during the term of the agreements; if the parties fail to timely agree on minimum sales requirements for a twelve-month period, the applicable agreement will terminate. Failure by either party to achieve minimum sales levels will give the other party the right to terminate the applicable agreement upon 60 days' notice. Each of the Veeco/Seiko Instruments Agreements is for a three-year term, which is automatically extended unless either party provides the other with notice of its desire to terminate an agreement. In April 1993, Seiko Instruments was appointed by Veeco as the exclusive distributor in Japan of the Company's ion beam systems product line. OTHER STRATEGIC ALLIANCES.Other Strategic Alliances. Since 1968, Ulvac has been the exclusive distributor of the Company's (and its predecessors) stylus surface profiler products in Japan and in 1993, Ulvac was appointed as the exclusive distributor of the SXM Workstation in Japan. In 1994, Sloan introduced the Dektak FPD-650, a flat panel display profiler developed byThe current Distribution Agreement between the Company and Ulvac was initially entered into on December 15, 1974 and will remain in effect until either party gives the other 90 days' prior notice of its intention to meet product specifications defined by Ulvac in response to the specific needs of flat panel display manufacturers in Japan. In Novemberterminate such Agreement. On September 18, 1996, the Company entered into a strategic allianceDistribution Agreement (the "Schmitt Distribution Agreement") with Schmitt, Measurement Systems.pursuant to which the Company was appointed the worldwide exclusive distributor for certain products of Schmitt (with certain exceptions). Under this alliancethe Schmitt Distribution Agreement, the Company will market, sell and service Schmitt's current product line as well as to engineerassist in engineering and automate theirautomating Schmitt products for volume production applications. Effective January 1, 1998, the parties entered into a new agreement with similar terms. The term of the new Schmitt Distribution Agreement ends on December 31, 1999, and is automatically renewed for consecutive two-year periods unless either party notifies the other of its intention to terminate the Agreement six months prior to the expiration of the then current term. The Company believes that these strategic alliances enable the Company to continue to access new technologies and introduce innovative products in a cost-efficient manner and will expand the Company's worldwide customer base. Future strategic arrangements may take the form of joint ventures or joint research and development projects, as well as acquisitions or other business combinations. SALES AND SERVICE SALES.Sales and Service Sales. The Company sells its products worldwide through a combination of direct (I.E.(i.e., Veeco-employed) sales representatives and independent distributors, whose territories do not overlap within a product line. The Company believes that the size, location and expertise of its sales organization represents a competitive advantage in the markets it serves. The Company employs approximately 5778 sales professionals in its worldwide 9 sales and marketing organization, with sales offices located in Milpitas,Tucson, Arizona; San Jose California; Santa Barbara, California; Santa Clara, California; Tustin, California; Chelmsford, Massachusetts; Minneapolis, Minnesota; Orangeburg, New York; Plainview, New York; Minneapolis, Minnesota;Ronkonkoma, New York; Dourdan, France; Munich, Germany; Watford, England; Hong Kong;Kong, China; Hsinchu, Taiwan and Tokyo, Japan. In addition to Ulvac, and Seiko, Veecothe Company has entered into exclusive distribution agreements with several independent distributors throughout the world. Other than Ulvac, noneNone of these independent distributors accounted for more than 10% of Veeco'sthe Company's sales during the year ended December 31, 1996.1997. See "--Customers."-Customers." 12 Independent distributors typically carry a full line of Veeco'sthe Company's products within a product line, and some distributors such as Seiko Instruments, distribute products from more than one of the Company's product lines. Most distributors also provide product support and servicing for the Veeco products sold by them. As previously described, in 1993 Veeco entered into exclusive distributorship arrangements in Japan with Seiko Instruments with respect to the ion beam systems product line. See Note 8 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for data pertaining to the Company's net sales to unaffiliated customers by geographic area and for the Company's United States operations export sales. SERVICE.Service. The Company believesrecognizes that its fieldcustomer service organization is a significant factor in the Company's success. Veeco providesField service and customer support are provided on a worldwide customer servicebasis from fiveeight service centers in the United States, three in Europe (Dourdan, France; Watford, England; and Munich, Germany) and foursix in Asia (Tokyo,(Osaka, Japan; Tokyo, Japan; Hong Kong;Kong, China; Bangkok, ThailandThailand; Hsinchu, Taiwan and Penang, Malaysia). In addition, mostVeeco-authorized distributors provide service and technical support for the Veeco products they sell. Because of therepresent. The large installed base of its ion beam systems, surfaceprocess equipment, process metrology X-ray fluorescenceand industrial measurement systems and mass spectrometry leak detection products its multiple servicecombined with the Company's worldwide support centers and its field service responsiveness to customer needs, Veeco believes that its service organization provides the Company with opportunities for future sales to new and existing customers. The Company provides service pursuant toand support on a warranty, service contract or on aan individual service-call basis. The Company's productsNew systems typically carry a one-year warranty, which includes labor costs andthe replacement of defective parts.parts and associated labor costs. The Company also offers enhanced warranty coverage.coverage and services. The Company offers several types of service contracts, including preventativepreventive maintenance plans, on-call and on-site service-call plans and other comprehensive service arrangements. The Company providesarrangements, product and application training, for its customers and employees and consultation services includingand a 24-hour hotline service, for certain products. Approximately 23%22% of the Company's 19961997 net sales were generated from service and support and the sale of spare parts and components. CUSTOMERSCustomers The Company sells its products to many of the world's major data storage, semiconductor, and flat panel display manufacturers, and to customers in other industries, research centers and universities. For the year ended December 31, 1996,1997, approximately 55.5%65% of the Company's total net sales were to customers in the data storage industry; approximately 27.4%19% were sales to customers in the semiconductor industry; approximately 3.8%2% were sales to customers in the flat panel display industry; and the remaining approximately 13.3%14% of net sales were to other industry customers and to universities and research centers. Sales to Read-Rite,Seagate, which utilizes products primarily from the Company's ion beam systemprocess equipment and process metrology product linelines, totaled $16,682,000, $6,631,000$29,303,000, $16,025,000 and $893,000,$17,369,000 representing 17.2%18%, 9.2%14% and 1.8%20% of the Company's net sales for the years ended December 31, 1997, 1996 1995 and 1994, respectively. Sales to Seagate, which also utilizes products primarily from the Company's ion beam system product line, totaled $15,469,000, $16,768,000 and $13,499,000, representing 16.0%, 23.2% and 27.3% of the Company's net sales for the years ended December 31, 1996, 1995, and 1994, respectively. According to industry reports, Seagate is one of the world's largest disk drive manufacturers. 10Sales to Read-Rite, which utilizes products primarily from the Company's process equipment and process metrology product lines, totaled $23,076,000, $16,915,000 and $6,926,000, representing 14%, 15% and 8% of the Company's net sales for the years ended December 31, 1997, 1996 and 1995, respectively. Sales to IBM, which utilizes products primarily from the Company's process equipment and process metrology product lines, totaled $12,165,000, $6,245,000 and $821,000, representing 7.3%, 5.4% and 1.0% of the Company's net sales for the years ended December 31, 1997, 1996 and 1995, respectively. 13 Excluding sales to Seagate, Read-Rite and Seagate,IBM, sales to the next five top customers accounted for 22.9%17%, 22.71%,18% and 23.7%21%, in the aggregate, of total net sales of the Company for the years ended December 31, 1997, 1996 1995 and 1994,1995, respectively. End-users of the Company's products in each of the following categories include:
Flat Panel Micro-machined Data Storage Semiconductor Display and Optics and Research ------------ ------------- ------- ----------------------- Applied Magnetics AMD Applied Komatsu 3M DAS Devices AT & T Casio Computer AMP Headways Technology CNET/SGS Thomson Dai Nippon Eastman Kodak Hutchinson Technology Hewlett Packard Print Hughes Missile Systems IBM Hyundai Dai Nippon Lawrence Livermore Komag Lucent Technology Screen National Laboratory Maxtor Micron IBM Japan Lockheed Martin Mitsumi Mitsubishi Samsung Rockwell Quantum Motorola Sumitomo Rosemont Read-Rite NEC Corp. Schott Glass SAE Magnetics Samsung Toshiba Corp. Siecor Seagate Siemens Vistakon Sony Texas Instruments Storage Technology Toshiba Yamaha White Oak Semiconductor Data Storage Flat Panel Display ------------- ----------------- ----------------- AMD Applied Magnetics AT & T Headways Technology Applied Komatsu CNET/SGS Thomson IBM Casio Computer DEC Komag Dai Nippon Print Harris Semiconductor Mitsumi Dai Nippon Screen Hewlett Packard Company Quantum IBM Japan Hyundai Read-Rite Samsung Micron SAE Magnetics Sumitomo Corp. Mitsubishi Seagate Toshiba Corp. Motorola Sony National Semiconductor NEC Philips Samsung Seiko Instruments Inc. Siemens Texas Instruments Toshiba VLSI Technology, Inc ENGINEERING, RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
Engineering, Research and Development The Company believes that continued and timely development of new products and enhancements to existing products are necessary to maintain its competitive position and relies on a combination of its own internal expertise and strategic alliances with other companies to enhance its research and development efforts. The Company utilizes information supplied by its distributors and customers to design and develop new products and product enhancements and to reduce time-to-market for these products. Through its strategic alliances, the Company has obtained the rights to sell additional products on a timely and cost efficient basis. See "-Strategic Alliances." The Company's engineering, research and development programs are organized by product line; new products have been introduced into each of the Company's product lines in each of 1997, 1996 1995 and 1994.1995. During 1996,1997, the Company added 1311 new products to its product lines: the RF-350S, the Reactive Secondary Ion Beam Sputtering Deposition System, and the Multitarget SecondaryIBD-350 Ion Beam Deposition System, the DLC-350V Diamond Like Coating System and Cymetra PVD Physical Vapor Deposition System to its ion beam systemsprocess equipment product line; the Detak 300 SI, 300 SL, 200 SI and 200 SL Series VDektak OSP 1100 Stylus profilers,Profiler, the Dektak TMS-2000, TMS-2000W, and TMS-3000W Optical Scatterometers (developed by Schmitt Measurement Systems) and the High Definition SXMSXM-320 Critical Dimension Atomic Force Microscope, the Dektak DTM 2000 Automated Scatterometer, the Wyko SP3000 Optical Profiler and the Wyko PTR-2100 Optical Profiler to is surfaceits process metrology product line; and the MS-50 Console Leak DetectorSystem XR XRF Thickness & Composition Measurement Systems, the System XA XRF Thickness & Composition Measurement Systems and MS-50 Dual Port Console Leak Detectorthe MVAO 1000 Magnetic Vacuum Annealing Oven to its industrial measurement product line. Engineering research and development expenses of the Company were approximately $9,804,000, $7,101,000$18,436,000, $12,464,000 and $5,096,000$9,157,000, or 10.1%, 9.8% and 10.3%approximately 11% of net sales, for each of the years ended December 31, 1997, 1996 1995 and 1994,1995, respectively. These expenses consisted primarily of salaries, project material and other product development and enhancement costs. 1114 MANUFACTURINGManufacturing The Company's principal manufacturing activities, which consist of design, assembly and test operations, take place at its Plainview, New York headquarters, where ion beam systems are produced, in Orangeburg, New York, where its PVD systems are produced, in Ronkonkoma, New York, where its XRF and leak detection/vacuum equipment product lines are produced, and in Santa Barbara, California, at the headquarters of the Company's Sloan subsidiary, where the stylus surface metrology system product line is produced and in Tucson, Arizona, where interferometry products are produced. The SXM workstationAtomic Force Microscopes sold by Veeco isthe Company are manufactured by IBM at its Boca Raton, Florida facility. The laser-based scatterometers sold by the Company are manufactured by Schmitt in Portland, Oregon. The Company's manufacturing and research and development functions have been organized by product line. The Company believes that this organizational structure allows each product line manager to more closely monitor the products for which he is responsible, resulting in more efficient sales, marketing, manufacturing and research and development. The Company has also implemented a Total Quality Management program, which seeks to emphasize customer responsiveness, customer service, high quality products and a more interactive management style. By implementing these management philosophies, the Company believes that it has increased its competitiveness and positioned itself for future growth. Certain of the products sold by the Company are obtained from single sources pursuant to written agreements. The Company relies upon IBM for manufacture of the SXM Workstation,Atomic Force Microscopes and termination of the Company's agreement with IBM or other disruptions in the supply of product could have an adverse effect on the Company's results of operations. In addition, certain of the components and sub-assemblies included in the Company's other products are obtained from a single source or a limited group of suppliers. Although the Company does not believe it is dependent upon any supplier of the components and sub-assemblies referred to in the previous sentence as a sole source or limited source for any critical components (other thenthan as set forth above), the inability of the Company to develop alternative sources, if required, or an inability to meet a demand or a prolonged interruption in supply or a significant increase in the price of one or more components could adversely affect the Company's operating results. BACKLOGBacklog The Company's backlog consists generally of product orders for which a purchase order has been received and which are scheduled for shipment within twelve months. Because a large percentage of the Company's orders require products to be shipped in the same quarter in which the order was received, and due to possible changes in delivery schedules, cancellations of orders and delays in shipment, the Company does not believe that the level of backlog at any point in time is an accurate indicator of the Company's performance. COMPETITIONCompetition The Company faces substantial competition from established competitors in each of the markets that it serves, some of which have greater financial, engineering, manufacturing and marketing resources than the Company. In addition, to a lesser extent many of the Company's product lines face competition from alternative technologies, some of which are better established than those used by the Company in its products. Significant marketing factors for surface metrology and ion beam systems include system performance, accuracy, repeatability, ease of use, reliability, cost of ownership, and technical service and support. The Company believes it competes favorably on the basis of these factors in each of the Company's served markets for such products. None of the Company's competitors competes with the Company across the Company's product lines. 15 The Company's ion beamprocess equipment systems compete with other ion beamequipment system manufacturers such as Commonwealth Scientific Corporation, Hitachi, Nordiko, CVC and Nordiko. 12 Balders. In the market for surfaceprocess metrology systems, the Company competes with several companies. The SXM Workstation competes with AFM products produced by othersystem manufacturers such as Digital, Instruments as well as with high-end SEM equipment produced by manufacturers such as Hitachi, Ltd. In the surface profiler market, the Company competes primarily with Tencor Instruments., KLA-Tencor Instruments, Applied Materials - OPAL and Zygo Corporation. In the XRF market, the Company competes with other manufacturers of XRF products, including Twin City International, Inc., CMI International and Fischer, Inc. In the leak detector/vacuum equipment market, the Company competes primarily with Varian Associates, Inc., Leybold A.G. and Alcatel, NV. PATENTS, TRADEMARKS AND OTHER INTELLECTUAL PROPERTYPatents, Trademarks and Other Intellectual Property The Company's success depends in part on its proprietary technology. Although the Company attempts to protect its intellectual property rights through patents, copyrights, trade secrets and other measures, there can be no assurance that the Company will be able to protect its technology adequately or that competitors will not be able to develop similar technology independently. The Company has more than 50 patents covering its various products which the Company believes provides it with a competitive advantage. The Company has a policy of seeking patents when appropriate on inventions concerning new products and improvements as part of its on-going research, development and manufacturing activities. The Company believes that there are no patents which are critical to the Company's operations, and that the success of its business depends primarily on the technical expertise, innovation, creativity and marketing and distribution ability of its employees. The Company also relies upon trade secret protection for its confidential and propriety information. There can be no assurance that others will not independently develop substantially equivalent proprietary information and techniques or otherwise gain access to the Company's trade secrets or disclose such technology or that the Company can meaningfully protect its trade secrets. The Company is the licensee of certain intellectual property owned by IBM which is associated with the SXM Workstation, including "SXM," which is a registered trademark owned by IBM. See --"Strategic"-Strategic Alliances." ENVIRONMENTAL MATTERSEnvironmental Matters In October 1993, the California Regional Water Quality Control Board, Central Coast Region (the "RWQCB") issued a Cleanup and Abatement Order ("CAO") for the site (the "Site") of a facility which was leased by a predecessor ("Old Sloan") of Sloan Technology Corp., a subsidiary of the Company ("Old Sloan") in Santa Barbara, California. The CAO declared that Lambda Electronics Inc. ("Lambda"), the Company and certain other parties had caused or permitted certain hazardous waste to be discharged into waters of the State at the Site where they create, or threaten to create, a condition of nuisance. (The Company is named as a "discharger" in the CAO because it acquired the assets and liabilities of Old Sloan pursuant to the Acquisition; in addition, the Company may be required to indemnify Lambda for obligations incurred by Lambda as a result of Old Sloan's operations.) In compliance with the CAO, the Company submitted a corrective action plan for remediating contaminated soils at the Site, by excavating them, spreading them, tilling them, and then refilling the excavated areas with these soils. The RWQCB approved this corrective action plan on June 6, 1994 and on November 29, 1994, the Santa Barbara County Air Pollution Control District exempted the corrective action 16 activities from the District's air permit requirements. The soil remediation was completed in September 1995. The Company is currently performing post soil remediation groundwater monitoring. Reports prepared by consultants hired by the Company and by owners of the Site indicate elevated levels of certain contaminants in samples of groundwater underneath the Site. The Company's consultants have 13 recommended that additional groundwater assessment activities and the preparation of a groundwater corrective action workplan, as required by the CAO, should await the results of groundwater testing conducted by other parties near the Site. Until that time, the Company (with the acquiescence of the RWQCB) is monitoring groundwater contamination levels at the Site on a quarterlysemi-annual basis, and is reviewing the results of third party groundwater assessment and monitoring activities being conducted in the vicinity of the Site. The Company cannot predict the extent of groundwater contamination and cannot determine at this time whether any or all of the groundwater contamination may be attributable to the activities of neighboring parties. The Company may be held responsible for the costs of remediating any groundwater contamination under or in the vicinity of the Site but the Company cannot predict the potential scope of such costs at this time. Pursuant to the Acquisition, the Company is required to pay, and has paid for each of the past seven years, up to $15,000 per year of the expenses incurred in connection with the operation of certain equipment used in connection with the monitoring and remediation of certain environmental contamination at the Company's Plainview, New York facility. The Company may under certain circumstances also be obligated to pay up to an additional $250,000 in connection with the implementation of a comprehensive plan of environmental remediation at the Plainview facility; pursuant to the terms of the Acquisition, Lambda (as well as its corporate parent, Unitech, plc, and certain of Lambda's subsidiaries) are required to pay all other costs and expenses relating to any such plan of environmental remediation. Because no such comprehensive plan of remediation has been required to date, the Company is not in a position to estimate more precisely what any actual liability might be. The Company is aware that petroleum hydrocarbon contamination has been detected in the soil at the site of the facility leased by its Sloan subsidiary in Santa Barbara, California (the "Sloan Building"). For 18 months after the Acquisition, the Company owned all of the outstanding capital stock of a company which held title to the Sloan Building, and a leasehold in the property on which the Sloan Building is located. In July 1991, the capital stock of such company was transferred to Lambda, pursuant to provisions in the agreement relating to the Acquisition. Although there appears to be no evidence that the petroleum constituents found in the soil are associated with any activities of Sloan at the Sloan Building, under Federal and California environmental statutes, current "owners and operators" and "owners and operators" at the time of disposal of hazardous substances may be deemed liable for removal and remediation of contamination at a facility. In connection with the Acquisition, Lambda and Unitech plc agreed to indemnify the Company for liabilities incurred by the Company which arise from the environmental contamination at the site, and any costs and expenses relating to the remediation thereof. EMPLOYEESEmployees At December 31, 1996,1997, the Company had approximately 329595 full time employees, including 99comprised of 171 in manufacturing and testing, 5778 in sales and marketing, 5995 in service and support, 73173 in engineering, research and development, and 4178 in general administration and finance. The success of the Company's future operations depends in large part on the Company's ability to recruit and retain engineers, technicians and other highly-skilled professionals who are in considerable demand. There can be no assurance that the Company will be successful in retaining or recruiting key personnel. None of the Company's employees is represented by a labor union and the Company has never experienced a work stoppage, slowdown or strike. The Company considers its employee relations to be good. 17 None of the Company's senior management or key employees is subject to long-terman employment agreements;agreement; in addition, none of such individuals is subject to an agreement not to compete with the Company. SeveralHowever, Mr. Walter Scherr, a director of the Company's senior management and key employees hold Common Stock, and/or stock optionsCompany, is party to purchase Common Stock, ofa consulting agreement with the Company. 14 ITEMItem 2. FACILITIES.Properties. The Company's corporate headquarters principaland manufacturing and research and development facilities for process equipment systems are located in an 80,000 square foot building in Plainview, New York, which is owned by the Company. In addition,The Company also manufactures and designs products in four other sites in the United States, which include a 100,000 square foot facility in Orangeburg, New York, owned by the Company, leasesa 100,000 square foot facility in Tucson, Arizona, owned by the Sloan Building from Lambda. The Sloan Building, locatedCompany, a 40,000 square foot facility in Ronkonkoma, New York, leased by the Company and a 25,000 square foot facility in Santa Barbara, California, leased by the Company. The Tucson facility is subject to a 30,000 square foot buildingmortgage, which serves as the administrative, sales, manufacturingat December 31, 1997 had an outstanding balance of $2,563,000. The Ronkonkoma and research and development facility of Sloan. The lease expiresSanta Barbara leases expire in June 1998.2003. The Company also leases two facilities located in Milpitas, CaliforniaSan Jose, California; Santa Clara, California; Tustin, California; and Tustin, California,Chelmsford, Massachusetts for use as sales and service centers for certain of its products. Subsidiaries of the Company lease space for use as sales and service centers in Dourdan, France; Munich, Germany; Watford, England; Hong Kong, China; Hsinchu, Taiwan and Tokyo, Japan. The Company believes that it will be able to either renew the lease for the Sloan Building on satisfactory terms or find a suitable substitute for such facility. Based on the foregoing, the Company believes its facilities are adequate to meet its current needs. Certain levels of environmental contamination have been detected at the Plainview, New York and Santa Barbara, California facilities of the Company. See "Business - Environmental Matters"Matters." Item 3. Legal Proceedings. Wyko, a subsidiary of the Company, is a defendant in a patent infringement lawsuit filed in June 1988 in the United States District Court for the District of Arizona, titled Zygo Corporation v. Wyko Corporation (Number CIV 88-454 TUC JLQ). ITEM 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS.The suit alleged that certain Wyko products infringed Zygo's patents, and sought monetary damages and an injunction. The case was decided adversely to Wyko in June 1994. Wyko appealed the decision which was partially reversed by a decision of the Court of Appeals, Zygo Corp. v. Wyko Corp., 79 F.3d 1563 (Fed. Cir. 1996), with an opinion determining that only certain Wyko products made in 1988 and 1989 infringed a patent. The case has been remanded to the District Court for a redetermination of damages. Wyko has been ordered to establish and fund an escrow account in the amount of $1,500,000 until a final decision is reached. The Company believes this escrow amount exceeds the amount sought in final recovery by the plaintiff. See "Business - Environmental Matters". for a description of certain environmental matters involving the Company. Except as described herein and therein, there are no material legal proceedings involving the Company or any of its subsidiaries. ITEMItem 4. SUBMISSION OF MATTERS TO VOTE OF SECURITY HOLDERS.Submission of Matters to Vote of Security Holders. None. 18 PART II ITEMItem 5. MARKET FOR THE REGISTRANT'S COMMON EQUITY AND RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERSMarket for the Registrant's Common Equity and Related Stockholder Matters The Common Stock is quoted on the NasdaqNASDAQ National Market under the symbol "VECO". The 19961997 and 19951996 high and low closing prices are as follows: 1997 1996 1995 -------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------ High Low High Low ---- --- ---- --- First Quarter $31.38 $21.88 $15.63 $11.13 $15.00 $ 7.75 Second Quarter 41.50 25.75 19.25 12.50 20.25 12.75 Third Quarter 72.50 38.50 15.00 9.88 30.00 15.25 Fourth Quarter 59.50 19.19 22.00 11.38 27.00 13.50 On February 24, 1997,March 2, 1998, the closing price for the Company's Common Stock on the NasdaqNASDAQ National Market was $27.25.$32.31. As of February 24, 1997,March 2, 1998, the Company had approximately 129155 shareholders of record. In July 1997, in connection with the acquisition of Wyko, in exchange for all of the outstanding capital stock of Wyko, the Company issued to the former stockholders of Wyko a total of 2,863,810 shares of Common Stock and to former optionholders of Wyko options to purchase 136,190 shares of Common Stock. The securities were issued without registration under the Securities Act of 1933 pursuant to Section 4(2) thereof. Options to purchase 30,547 shares of Common Stock were issued with an exercise price of $2.20 per share, options to purchase 10,182 shares of Common Stock were issued with an exercise price of $2.18 per share and options to purchase 95,461 shares of Common Stock were issued with an exercise price of $1.27 per share. See "Business- Recent Developments." The Company has not paid dividends on the Common Stock. The Company intends to retain future earnings, if any, for the development of its business and, therefore, does not anticipate that the Board of Directors will declare or pay any dividends on the Common Stock in the foreseeable future. In addition, the provisions of the Company's current credit facility limits the Company's ability to pay dividends. The Board of 15 Directors will determine future dividend policy based on the Company's results of operations, financial condition, capital requirements and other circumstances. ITEM19 Item 6. SELECTED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL DATA.Selected Consolidated Financial Data. The financial data set forth below should be read in conjunction with "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" and with the Company's Consolidated Financial Statements and notes thereto included elsewhere in this Form 10-K.
(IN THOUSANDS, EXCEPT PER SHARE DATA) YEARS ENDED DECEMBER(In thousands, except per share data) -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Years ended December 31, -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1997 1996 1995 1994 1993 1992 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- STATEMENT OF OPERATIONS DATA:Statement of operations data: Net sales $96,832 $72,359 $49,434 $43,149 $36,346$165,408 $115,042 $85,825 $60,031 $52,237 Cost of sales 54,931 39,274 28,940 25,736 21,847 --------------------------------------------------88,177 62,201 44,666 33,674 29,563 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Gross profit 41,901 33,085 20,494 17,413 14,49977,231 52,841 41,159 26,357 22,674 Cost and expenses 29,719 24,289 16,511 15,482 13,081 --------------------------------------------------51,597 36,166 29,768 21,574 20,863 Merger expenses 2,250 - - - - Write-off of purchased in-process technology 4,200 - - - - Legal fees and claims related to litigation - - - 2,051 995 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Operating income 12,182 8,796 3,983 1,931 1,41819,184 16,675 11,391 2,732 816 Interest (income) expense, (678) (391) 2,620 2,341 3,006 --------------------------------------------------net (525) (798) (152) 2,999 2,667 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Income (loss) before income taxes and extraordinary item 12,860 9,187 1,363 (410) (1,588)19,709 17,473 11,543 (267) (1,851) Income tax provision (benefit) 4,822 2,395 (795) - - --------------------------------------------------7,426 6,638 2,306 (708) (20) -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Income (loss) before extraordinary item 8,038 6,792 2,158 (410) (1,588)12,283 10,835 9,237 441 (1,831) Extraordinary (loss), net of $355 tax benefit - - - (679) - - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Net income (loss) $8,038 $6,792 $1,479 $(410) $(1,588) -------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------$12,283 $10,835 $ 9,237 $ (238) $(1,831) ========================================================================== Earnings per share: Income (loss) before extraordinary item $1.36 $1.24 .87 $(.22) $(.84)$ 1.39 $ 1.25 $ 1.13 $ 0.09 $ (0.39) Extraordinary (loss) - - (.27) - - --------------------------------------------------(0.14) -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Net income (loss) $1.36 $1.24 $.60 $(.22) $(.84) -------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------- Shares used in computing$ 1.39 $ 1.25 $ 1.13 $(0.05) $( 0.39) ========================================================================== Diluted earnings per share 5,906 5,484 2,472 1,874 1,897 -------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------share: Income (loss) before extraordinary item $ 1.32 $ 1.22 $ 1.09 $ 0.08 $ (0.39) Extraordinary (loss) (0.12) -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Net income (loss) $ 1.32 $ 1.22 $ 1.09 $(0.04) $(0.39) ========================================================================== Weighted average shares outstanding 8,808 8,667 8,166 4,995 4,738 ========================================================================== Diluted weighted average shares outstanding 9,324 8,906 8,484 5,472 4,738 ==========================================================================
20
AS OF DECEMBERAs of December 31, -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1997 1996 1995 1994 1993 1992 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- BALANCE SHEET DATA:Balance sheet data: Cash and cash equivalents $21,209 $17,568$18,505 $23,465 $18,525 $ 2,279 $386 $1,0633,425 $ 1,534 Working capital 43,454 37,461 16,122 6,666 7,26454,386 49,361 39,307 16,683 10,273 Excess of cost over net assets acquired, net 4,318 4,448 4,579 4,710 4,840 4,835 Total assets 80,327 67,380 40,931 32,596 31,464127,739 96,797 79,610 50,816 43,221 Long-term debt and capital leases (including current installments)- - - 39 24,934 25,150 2,563 2,669 2,766 2,839 27,734 Shareholders' equity (deficit) 57,970 49,751 28,289 (1,681) (1,226)81,782 66,270 55,254 31,347 3,094
16 ITEMItem 7. MANAGEMENT DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS. RESULTS OF OPERATIONSManagement Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations. Results of Operations The following table sets forth, for the periods indicated, the relationship (in percentages) of selected items of the Company's consolidated statements of operationsincome to its total net sales: YEARS ENDED DECEMBER
Years ended December 31, ------------------------------------ 1997 1996 1995 ------------------------------------ Net sales 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% Cost of sales 53.3 54.1 52.0 ------------------------------------ Gross profit 46.7 45.9 48.0 Operating expenses Research and development 11.1 10.8 10.7 Selling, general and administrative 20.1 20.6 23.9 Amortization 0.2 0.2 0.2 Other, net (0.2) (0.2) (0.1) Merger expenses 1.4 - - Write-off of purchased in-process technology 2.5 - - ------------------------------------ Total operating expenses 35.1 31.4 34.7 ------------------------------------ Operating income 11.6 14.5 13.3 Interest income, net 0.3 0.7 0.1 ------------------------------------ Income before income taxes 11.9 15.2 13.4 Income tax provision 4.5 5.8 2.6 ------------------------------------ Net income 7.4% 9.4% 10.8% ====================================
Years Ended December 31, 1997 and 1996 1995 1994 --------------------------------- Net sales 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% Costwere $165,408,000 for the year ended December 31, 1997 representing an increase of approximately $50,366,000, or 43.8%, when compared to the year ended December 31, 1996. The increase reflects growth in the Company's process equipment and process metrology product lines. Sales in the U.S. 21 increased approximately 70%, while international sales 56.7 54.3 58. ---------------------------------included a 24% increase in Asia Pacific, a 27% increase in Europe and a 4% decrease in Japan. The Company received approximately $164,000,000 of orders in 1997 compared to approximately $135,700,000 in 1996, reflecting both the increased demand for high density hard drives and the continued industry transition to the next generation MR thin film magnetic heads as well as increased semiconductor industry investment in advanced products. The book to bill ratio was .99 to 1 for the year ended December 31, 1997. Sales of process equipment increased by 59% to approximately $84,530,000 in 1997 compared to 1996, driven principally by increased demand from the data storage industry for equipment used in the production of MR and GMR heads for high density hard drives. Of this increase, approximately 39% was due to growth in volume, with the balance of the increase due to a shift in customer demand to multi-process modules with increased automation which resulted in an approximately 47% higher average selling price of a system. Sales of process metrology products increased by 46% to approximately $61,431,000 in 1997 compared to 1996 principally as a result of increased sales of Wyko optical interferometers, Dektak stylus profilers and scatterometers and atomic force microscopes. Sales of Wyko optical interferometers increased by 81%, reflecting increased acceptance by the semiconductor industry of non-contact optical measurement for advanced packaging. Sales of Dektak stylus profilers and scatterometers increased by 21% reflecting acceptance in the semiconductor and data storage industries of new product introductions. Atomic force microscope sales increased 15% reflecting increased demand for advanced semiconductor applications. Sales of industrial measurement products were approximately $19,447,000 in 1997 and remained relatively flat compared to 1996. Gross profit 43.3 45.7 41.5 Operating expenses:increased to approximately $77,231,000, or 46.7% of net sales for 1997, compared to $52,841,000, or 45.9% of net sales for 1996. This increase in gross margin is principally attributable to increased sales of process equipment and process metrology products which yield higher gross margin than industrial measurement products. Research and development 10.1 9.8 10.3expense increased by approximately $5,972,000 to approximately $18,436,000, or 11.1% of net sales in 1997 compared to approximately $12,464,000 or 10.8% of sales in 1996, due to increased R&D investment in process equipment and process metrology. Increased R&D investment was made in process equipment in PVD and in IBD. In process metrology, increased investments were made in Wyko optical interferometer products for both data storage and semiconductor market products along with investments in Dektak stylus profilers for the semiconductor, data storage and flat panel display markets. Selling, general and administrative 20.2 23.3 22.6 Amortization .2 .2 .7 Other -expenses increased by approximately $9,597,000 to 20.1% of net .2 .2 (.2) --------------------------------- Total operatingsales in 1997 from 20.6% for 1996. Selling expense increased $7,103,000, principally comprised of sales commissions related to higher sales volume, increased compensation and travel expense as a result of additional sales and service personnel required to support the Company's growth and an increase in advertising and marketing to support new products. Operating expenses 30.7 33.5 33.4in 1997 include merger costs incurred in connection with the merger with Wyko Corporation of approximately $2,250,000, consisting of investment banking, legal and other transaction costs. Operating expenses in 1997 also include the effect of a $4,200,000 charge in connection with the acquisition of the PVD business pertaining to data storage of Materials Research Corporation representing the write-off of the fair values of in-process engineering and development projects that have not reached technological feasibility and have no future alternative uses. 22 Income taxes amounted to $7,426,000 or 37.7% of income 12.6 12.2 8.1 Interest (income) expense (.7) (.5) 5.3 --------------------------------- Income before income taxes and extraordinary item 13.3 12.7 2.8 Income tax provision (benefit) 5.0 3.3 (1.6) --------------------------------- Incomefor 1997 as compared to $6,638,000 or 38.0% of income before extraordinary item 8.3 9.4 4.4 Extraordinary (loss), net of tax -- -- (1.4) --------------------------------- Net income 8.3% 9.4% 3.0 % --------------------------------- --------------------------------- YEARS ENDED DECEMBERtaxes for 1996. Years Ended December 31, 1996 ANDand 1995 Net sales were $96,832,000$115,042,000 for the year ended December 31, 1996 representing an increase of approximately $24,473,000,$29,217,000, or 33.8%34.0%, for the fiscal year ended December 31, 1996 as compared to 1995. The increase reflects growth in all three of the Company's product lines - ion beam systems, surfaceprocess equipment, process metrology and industrial measurement. Sales in the U.S. increased approximately 38.6%34%, while international sales included a 37.8%50% increase in Asia Pacific and a 56.2%59% increase in Japan and a 3%2% decrease in Europe. Sales of ion beam systemsprocess equipment increased by 60.3% to approximately $53,213,000$53,198,000 in 1996 compared to 1995. Of this increase, approximately 55.9% is due to growth in volume, with the balance of the increase attributable to an approximately 27.7% higher average selling price of a system resulting from a shift in customer demand to multi-process modules with increased automation. This growth was principally driven by increased demand for mass memory storage due to the capacity ramp up in both magnetoresitive and inductive thin film magnetic heads required in high density hard drives. Sales of surfaceprocess metrology products increased by 14.6%22.7% to approximately $23,902,000$42,090,000 in 1996 compared to 1995 principally as a result of increased sales of Wyko products for mass memory, semiconductor and microelectronics and SXM Workstations for semiconductor applications. Sales of industrial measurement products increased by 7.7% to approximately $19,717,000$19,754,000 in 1996 compared to 1995 as a result of the introduction of new products in the leak detection product line. The Company received approximately $135,700,000 of orders in 1996 compared to approximately $99,300,000 million of orders in 1995 for a 37% increase. This resulted in a book to bill ratio of 1.18 to 1 for 1996. Gross profit increased to approximately $41,901,000,$52,841,000, or 43.3%45.9% of net sales for 1996, compared to $33,085,000,$41,159,000, or 45.7%48.0% of net sales for 1995. The decline in gross margin percentage was principally due to product and geographic mix changes in surfaceprocess metrology and industrial measurement products lines. Research and development expense increased by approximately $2,703,000$3,307,000 to approximately $9,804,000,$12,464,000, or 10.1%10.8% of net sales in 1996 compared to approximately $7,101,000$9,157,000 or 9.8%10.7% of sales in 1995, as the Company increased its R&D investment in each of its product lines with particular emphasis on ion beam products. 17 in process equipment. Selling, general and administrative expenses increased by approximately $2,714,000 to 20.2% of net sales$3,323,000 in 1996, but decreased as a percentage of sales to 20.6% for 1996 from 23.3%23.9% for 1995. Selling expense increased $2,353,000$2,857,000 principally comprised of sales commissions related to higher sales volume, as well as increased compensation and travel expense as a result of additional sales and service personnel required to support the Company's growth. The Company received approximately $107 million of orders in 1996 compared to approximately $84 million of orders in 1995 for a 27.9% increase. This resulted in a book to bill ratio of 1.11 to 1 for 1996. Operating income increased to approximately $12,182,000 or 12.6% of net sales for 1996 compared to $8,796,000 or 12.2% of net sales for 1995, due to the above noted factors. Income taxes amounted to $4,822,000$6,638,000 or 37.5%38.0% of income before income taxes and extraordinary item for 1996 as compared to $2,395,000$2,306,000 or 26.1%20.0% of income before income taxes and extraordinary item for 1995. The Company's effective tax rate in 1995 was lower as a result of the Company recognizing previously unrecognized deferred tax assets. YEARS ENDED DECEMBER 31, 1995 AND 1994 Net sales increased byLiquidity and Capital Resources The Company generated approximately $22,925,000, or 46.4%, for the fiscal year ended December 31, 1995$6,813,000 of cash from operations in 1997 compared to approximately $72,359,000$8,669,000 and $2,015,000 in 1996 and 1995, respectively, primarily as compared to 1994. The increase reflects growtha result of (i) net 23 income in all three1997 (plus non-cash charges for depreciation and amortization and the write-off of the Company's product lines - ion beam systems, surface metrologypurchased in-process technology) of $18,132,000 plus (ii) increases of accounts payable, accrued expenses and industrial measurement. Sales in the U.S. increased approximately 48%, while international sales includedother current liabilities, income taxes payable and other operating assets and liabilities of $8,267,000, $573,000, $2,457,000 and $816,000, respectively. These items were partially offset by an approximately 44% increase in European salesaccounts receivable, inventories and an approximately 47% increase in Asia Pacific sales including Japan. Salesdeferred income taxes of ion beam systems$9,533,000, $12,190,000 and $1,709,000, respectively. Accounts receivable, inventory, and accounts payable increased by 58.1% to approximately $33,184,000 in 1995 compared to 1994. This increase was driven by increased demand from mass memory storage and telecommunications markets. Sales of surface metrology products increased by 58.0% to approximately $20,830,000 in 1995 compared to 1994primarily as a result of increased sales of SXM Workstations for semiconductor applications and increased sales of surface profilersvolume. Cash from operations in Asia Pacific and Europe. Sales of industrial measurement products increased by 20.2% to approximately $18,345,000 in 1995 compared to 1994 as a result of the introduction of new products in both the leak detection and XRF thickness measurement systems product lines. Gross profit increased to approximately $33,085,000, or 45.7% of1996 resulted from (i) net sales, for 1995 compared to $20,494,000, or 41.5% of net sales for 1994. This improvement was due to the sales volume increases described above, product mix changes and improved operating efficiencies. Research and development expense increased by approximately $2,005,000 to approximately $7,101,000, or 9.8% of net sales in 1995 compared to approximately $5,096,000 or 10.3% of sales in 1994, as the Company increased its R&D investment in each of its product lines. Selling, general and administrative expenses increased by approximately $5,651,000 to 23.3% of net sales in 1995 from 22.6% for 1994. Selling expense increased $4,150,000 principally comprised of sales commissions related to higher sales volume, as well as increased compensation and travel expense as a result of additional sales and service personnel required to support the Company's growth. The Company received approximately $84 million of orders in 1995 compared to approximately $55 million of orders in 1994. Operating income increased to approximately $8,796,000 or 12.2% of net sales for 1995 compared to $3,983,000 or 8.1% of net sales for 1994, due to the above noted factors. As a result of the repayment of all outstanding debt in December 1994 from the proceeds of the IPO and the investment of the net proceeds from the Public Offering completed in July 1995, the Company had $391,000 of interest income in 1995 compared to $2,620,0001996 (plus non-cash charges for depreciation and amortization) of interest expense in 1994. 18 Income taxes amounted to $2,395,000 or 26.1%$12,704,000 plus (ii) increases of income beforeaccounts payable, accrued expenses, income taxes payable and extraordinary item for 1995. The Company's effective tax rate is lower than the statutory tax rate as a result of the Company recognizing previously unrecognized deferred tax assets. It is anticipated that the Company's effective tax rate in 1996 will approach the statutory tax rate. LIQUIDITY AND CAPITAL RESOURCES Net cash provided by operations totaled $7,173,000 for the fiscal year ended December 31, 1996 compared to $1,980,000 for 1995, due primarily to net income of $8,038,000 in 1996 compared to net income of $6,792,000 in 1995. Cash flow in 1995 was also impacted by an increase of approximately $6,072,000 in accounts receivable. Net cash provided by operations of $1,980,000 for the fiscal year ended December 31, 1995 compared to $808,000 for 1994 primarily due to net income of $6,792,000 in 1995 compared to net income of $1,479,000 in 1994 partially offset by changes in operating assets and liabilities. Accountsliabilities of $2,888,000, $2,791,000, $508,000 and $929,000, respectively. These items were partially offset by increases in accounts receivable, increased by approximately $843,000 at December 31, 1996 to $19,826,000 from $18,983,000 at December 31, 1995, due primarily to increased sales. Accountsinventories and deferred income taxes of $2,664,000, $7,592,000, and $895,000, respectively. The increases in accounts receivable, increased by approximately $6,291,000 to $18,983,000 at December 31, 1995 from $12,692,000 at December 31, 1994, primarily dueinventories, accounts payable and accrued expenses are attributable to the increased sales. Inventories increased by approximately $5,468,000 at December 31, 1996 to $21,263,000 from $15,795,000 at December 31, 1995. The increase was principally due to purchases required for the increased level of sales orders. Inventories increased by approximately $5,101,000 at December 31, 1995 to $15,795,000 at December 31, 1995 from $10,694,000 at December 31, 1994 principally due to purchases required for the introduction of new products and increased level of sales orders. Accounts payable increased by $2,467,000 at December 31, 1996 to $11,196,000 from $8,729,000 at December 31, 1995 due to a higher level of purchases associated with the increased sales volume. Accounts payable increased by $1,316,000 at December 31, 1995 to $8,729,000 from $7,413,000 as a result of purchases required for the introduction of new products. Accrued expenses increased by $2,441,000 at December 31, 1996 to $9,964,000 from $7,523,000 at December 31, 1995 as a result of increased customer deposits and payroll-related liabilities. Working capital totaled approximately $43,454,000$54,386,000 at December 31, 19961997, compared to approximately $37,461,000$49,361,000 at December 31, 1995. Cash increased to approximately $21,209,000 at December 31, 1996 as a result of cash from operations partially offset by approximately $3,766,000 of capital expenditures. Working capital was approximately $37,461,000 at December 31, 19951996. The Company used $13,481,000 for investing activities in 1997 compared to approximately $16,122,000 at December 31, 1994.$3,883,000 and $1,155,000 in 1996 and 1995, respectively. Cash increasedused for investing activities in 1997 primarily related to approximately $17,568,000 at December 31, 1995 from $2,279,000 at December 31, 1994 as a result of cash from operationsthe PVD acquisition ($4,375,000) and the Company's Public Offering. The Company made capital expenditures of $3,766,000 for fiscal year 1996,($9,106,000). Capital expenditures in 1997 were principally for manufacturing facilities, laboratory and test equipment and computerbusiness system upgrades, as compared to $965,000 ofupgrades. Cash used for investing activities in 1996 and 1995 were for capital expenditures for 1995. The Company's capital expenditures for 1995 related primarily to the purchase of laboratory and test equipment and manufacturing facility improvements.expenditures. The Company expects that capital expenditures in 1998 will increaseremain flat when compared to 1997. The Company generated $1,917,000 of cash from financing activities in 1997 compared to a use of $7,000 in 1996 and generation of $14,384,000 of cash from investing activities in 1995. Cash generated in 1997 primarily resulted from the next year as it improves its manufacturing facilities and acquires additional equipment for its ion beam deposition systems business. In July 1996, theexercise of stock options. The Company entered intohas a new credit facility$30,000,000 Credit Facility (the "Credit Facility") with Fleet Bank, N.A. and The Chase Manhattan Bank. The Credit Facility,which may be used for working capital, acquisitions and general corporate purposes, provides the Company with up to $30 million of availability.purposes. The Credit Facility bears interest at the prime rate of the lending banks, but is adjustable to a maximum rate of 3/4% above the prime rate in the event the Company's ratio of debt to cash flow exceeds a defined ratio. A LIBOR based interest rate option is also provided. As of December 31, 19961997 there were no amounts outstanding under the Credit Facility. 19 As of December 31, 1996, the Company's availability under the Credit Facility was reduced by approximately $931,000 as a result of outstanding letters of credit. The Credit Facility is secured by substantially all of the Company's personal property, as well as the stock of its Sloan subsidiary.property. Pursuant to a sales and marketing agreementagreements with IBM, the Company has agreed to purchase a minimum number of IBM-manufactured Atomic Force Microscopes ("SXM WorkstationsProducts"), one of which is in the development phase, for sale by the Company to customers in the semiconductor and data storage industries for anindustries. As of December 31, 1997, the Company's aggregate purchase price ofcommitment for SXM Products under these agreements was approximately $2,250,000. These products are required to be purchased prior to July 1997. In addition, the Company has minimum purchase obligations pursuant to agreements with certain other suppliers.$8,000,000. See "Business--Strategic Alliances.""Business - Strategic Alliances". The Company believes that the cash generated from operations, funds available from the Credit Facility described above and existing cash balances will be sufficient to meet the Company's projected working capital and other cash flow requirements for at least the next 24 months. RISK FACTORS THAT MAY IMPACT FUTURE RESULTSthrough 1998. Risk Factors That May Impact Future Results Certain information provided by the Company, statements made by its employees or information included in its filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission may contain statements which are "forward-looking statements" which involve risks and uncertainties. The following risk factors should be considered by shareholders of and by potential investors in the Company. CYCLICALITY OF SEMICONDUCTOR INDUSTRY.24 Cyclicality of Data Storage and Semiconductor Industries. The data storage and semiconductor industry hasindustries have been characterized by cyclicality. The industry hasThese industries have experienced significant economic downturns at various times in the last decade, characterized by diminished product demand, accelerated erosion of average selling prices and production over-capacity. Recently, the data storage industry has been plagued by inventory oversupply and poor operating results and the Company's data storage is anticipating a weak first half of 1998. The Company also sells product to companies located throughout the world. International markets provide the Company with growth opportunities along with additional risk. Many Pacific Rim countries are currently experiencing economic difficulties, which could result in reduced demand for the Company's products from customers in this area. The Company may experience substantial period-to-period fluctuations in future operating results due to general industry conditions or events occurring in the general economy. RAPID TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE; IMPORTANCE OF TIMELY PRODUCT INTRODUCTION.Rapid Technological Change; Importance of Timely Product Introduction. The data storage and semiconductor manufacturing industry isindustries are subject to rapid technological change and new product introductions and enhancements. The Company's ability to remain competitive will depend in part upon its ability to develop in a timely and cost effective manner new and enhanced systems at competitive prices. In addition, new product introductions or enhancements by the Company's competitors could cause a decline in sales or loss of market acceptance of the Company's existing products. Increased competitive pressure could also lead to intensified price competition resulting in lower margins, which could materially adversely affect the Company's business, financial condition and results of operations. The success of the Company in developing, introducing and selling new and enhanced systems depends upon a variety of factors, including product selections, timely and efficient completion of product design and development, timely and efficient implementation of manufacturing processes, effective sales, service and marketing and product performance in the field. Because new product development commitments must be made well in advance of sales, new product decisions must anticipate both the future demand for the products under development and the equipment required to produce such products. There can be no assurance that the Company will be successful in selecting, developing, manufacturing and marketing new products or in enhancing existing products. LIMITED SALES BACKLOG.Limited Sales Backlog. The Company derives a substantial portion of its sales from the sale of a relatively small number of systems which typically range in purchase price from approximately $400,000$750,000 to $1,500,000.$3,500,000. As a result, the timing of recognition of revenue for a single transaction could have a material adverse affect on the Company's sales and operating results. The Company's backlog at the beginning of a quarter typically does not include all sales required to achieve the Company's sales objective for that quarter. Moreover, all customer purchase orders are subject to cancellation or rescheduling by the customer with limited or no penalties. Therefore, backlog at any particular date is not necessarily representative of actual sales for any succeeding period. The Company's net sales and operating results for a quarter may depend upon the Company obtaining orders for systems to be shipped in the same quarter that the order is received. The Company's 20 business and financial results for a particular period could be materially adversely affected if an anticipated order for even one system is not received in time to permit shipping during the period. HIGHLY COMPETITIVE INDUSTRY.Highly Competitive Industry. The data storage and semiconductor capital equipment industry isindustries are intensely competitive. A substantial investment is required by customers to install and integrate capital equipment into a production line. As a result, once a manufacturer has selected a particular vendor's capital equipment, the Company believes that the manufacturer generally relies upon that equipment for the specific production line application and frequently will attempt to consolidate its other capital equipment requirements with the same vendor. Accordingly, the Company expects to experience difficulty in selling to a particular customer for a significant period of time if that customer selects a competitor's capital equipment. The Company expects its competitors to continue to develop enhancements to and future generations of competitive products that may offer improved price or performance features. New product introductions and enhancements by the Company's competitors could cause a significant decline in sales or loss of market 25 acceptance of the Company's systems in addition to intense price competition or otherwise make the Company's systems or technology obsolete or noncompetitive. Increased competitive pressure could lead to reduced demand and lower prices for the Company's products, thereby materially adversely affecting the Company's operating results. There can be no assurance that the Company will be able to compete successfully in the future. FOREIGN OPERATIONSYear 2000. The Company has determined that it will need to modify or replace portions of its software so that its computer systems will function properly with respect to dates in the year 2000 and beyond. The Company has recently installed a new business information system for its process equipment and industrial measurement product lines, which is year 2000 compliant. The cost of such system was capitalized. The Company is in the process of assessing the extent of upgrades or modifications required for its process metrology product lines. The Company does not believe it has significant exposure to year 2000 with significant suppliers, large customers and financial institutions. The Company does not expect the cost of the year 2000 initiatives to be material to the Company's consolidated results of operations or financial position. Foreign Operations. Approximately 12.5%8.3%, 17.3%10.5%, and 14.9% of the Company's net sales for the years ended December 31, 1997, 1996 1995 and 1994,1995, respectively, were derived from sales denominated in foreign currencies. The effect of foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations on such revenues is largely offset to the extent expenses of the Company's international operations are incurred and paid for in the same currencies as those of its revenues. The Company has mitigated its exposure to foreign currency transaction adjustments by substantially offsetting assets denominated in foreign currencies with foreign currency liabilities. The Company doesgenerally has not engageengaged in foreign currency hedging transactions. Foreign currency translation adjustments of $631,000, $104,000 and ($128,000) and ($233,000) were charged (credited) charged to Shareholder's Equity for the years ended December 31, 1997, 1996 1995 and 1994,1995, respectively. The aggregate exchange gains and (losses) included in determining consolidated results of operations were ($34,000), ($153,000), $100,000, and $185,000$100,000 for the years ended December 31, 1997, 1996 and 1995 and 1994 respectively. DEPENDENCE ON MICROELECTRONICS INDUSTRYDependence on Microelectronics Industry. The Company's business depends in large part upon the capital expenditures of data storage, semiconductor and flat panel display manufacturers which accounted for the following percentages of the Company's net sales: DECEMBERYears Ended December 31, 1997 1996 1995 1994 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Data storage 55.5% 40.2% 38.1%65% 56% 42% Semiconductor 27.4 36.4 33.219 26 32 Flat panel display 3.8 6.1 7.3 21 2 3 5 The Company cannot predict whether the growth experienced in the microelectronics industry in the recent past will continue. ITEM26 Item 8. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTARY DATA.Financial Statements and Supplementary Data. The financial statements of the Company are listed in the Index to Consolidated Financial Statements and Financial Statement Schedule filed as part of this Form 10-K. QUARTERLY RESULTS OF OPERATIONSQuarterly Results of Operations The following table presents selected financial data for each quarter of fiscal 19961997 and 1995.1996. This information is unaudited, has been prepared on a basis consistent with the Company's audited financial statements and, in the opinion of the Company's management, reflects all adjustments (consisting only of normal recurring adjustments) that the Company considers necessary for a fair presentation of this information in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. Such quarterly results are not necessarily indicative of future results of operations and should be read in conjunction with the audited financial statements of the Company and the notes thereto. Quarterly Statements of Income (In thousands, except for per share data)
QUARTERLY STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS (IN THOUSANDS, EXCEPT FOR PER SHARE DATA) FISCALFiscal 1997 Fiscal 1996 FISCAL 1995 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------- Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 YEARYear Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 YEAR ------------------------------------------------- -----------------------------------------------Year Net sales $20,644 $25,095 $24,071 $27,022$37,754 $41,916 $42,836 $42,902 $165,408 $24,427 $29,850 $28,505 $32,260 $ 96,832 $ 14,133 $ 17,498 $ 18,430 $ 22,298 $ 72,359115,042 Cost of sales 11,437 13,972 13,602 15,920 54,931 7,754 9,615 10,061 11,844 39,274 -------------------------------------------------20,245 21,913 22,644 23,375 88,177 13,074 15,703 15,186 18,238 62,201 ---------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------- Gross profit 9,207 11,123 10,469 11,102 41,901 6,379 7,883 8,369 10,454 33,08517,509 20,003 20,192 19,527 77,231 11,353 14,147 13,319 14,022 52,841 Costs and expenses 6,522 7,872 7,455 7,870 29,719 5,002 5,863 5,948 7,476 24,289 -------------------------------------------------10,937 12,668 12,783 15,209 51,597 8,047 9,434 9,073 9,612 36,166 Merger expenses -- -- 2,250 -- 2,250 -- -- -- -- -- Write-off of Purchased in- process technology -- 4,200 -- -- 4,200 -- -- -- -- -- ---------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------- Operating income 2,685 3,251 3,014 3,232 12,182 1,377 2,020 2,421 2,978 8,7966,572 3,135 5,159 4,318 19,184 3,306 4,713 4,246 4,410 16,675 Interest income 200 162 14889 69 258 109 525 168 678 9 6 152 224 391 -------------------------------------------------126 341 163 798 ---------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------- Income before income taxes 2,885 3,413 3,162 3,400 12,860 1,386 2,026 2,573 3,202 9,1876,661 3,204 5,417 4,427 19,709 3,474 4,839 4,587 4,573 17,473 Income tax provision 1,075 1,307 1,168 1,272 4,822 291 544 694 866 2,395 -------------------------------------------------2,554 1,229 2,005 1,638 7,426 1,302 1,868 1,729 1,739 6,638 ---------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------- Net income $ 1,8104,107 $ 2,1061,975 $3,412 $ 1,9942,789 $12,283 $2,172 $ 2,128 $ 8,038 $ 1,095 $ 1,482 $ 1,879 $ 2,336 $ 6,792 ------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- -----------------------------------------------2,971 $2,858 $2,834 $10,835 ============================================== =============================================== Earnings per share: ------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------- Net income $ .31 $ .35 $ .34 $ .36 $ 1.36 $ .22 $ .29 $ .33 $ .39 $ 1.24 ------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------- Shares used in computing earnings per common share 5,893 5,958 5,860 5,972 5,906 5,077 5,123 5,750 5,984 5,484 ------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- -----------------------------------------------$.47 $.23 $.39 $.31 $1.39 $.25 $.34 $.33 $.33 $1.25 Diluted net income per common share $.45 $.21 $.36 $.30 $1.32 $.24 $.33 $.32 $.32 $1.22 Weighted average shares outstanding 8,724 8,768 8,848 8,874 8,808 8,666 8,679 8,686 8,695 8,667 ============================================== =============================================== Diluted weighted average shares outstanding 9,150 9,264 9,465 9,397 9,324 8,893 8,958 8,860 8,972 8,906 ============================================== ===============================================
A variety of factors influence the level of the Company's net sales in a particular quarter, including specific economic conditions in the semiconductor, data storage and flat panel display industries, the timing of significant orders, shipment delays, specific feature requests by customers, the introduction of new products by the Company and its competitors, production and quality problems, changes in material costs, disruption in sources of supply, seasonal patterns of capital spending by customers, and other factors, many of which are beyond the Company's control. In addition, the Company derives a substantial portion of its revenues from the sale of products which have an average selling price in excess of $500,000.$750,000. As a result, the timing of 27 recognition of revenue from a single transaction could have a significant impact on the Company's net sales and operating results in any given quarter. 22Item 9. Changes in and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure. None. 28 ITEM 9. CHANGES IN AND DISAGREEMENTS WITH ACCOUNTANTS ON ACCOUNTING AND FINANCIAL DISCLOSURES. None. PART III ITEMItem 10. DIRECTORS AND EXECUTIVE OFFICERS OF THE REGISTRANT.Directors and Executive Officers of the Registrant. Reference is made to the Registrant's definitive proxy statement to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission within 120 days after the end of the Registrant's fiscal year for information concerning directors and executive officers of the Registrant. ITEMItem 11. EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION.Executive Compensation. Reference is made to the Registrant's definitive proxy statement to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission within 120 days after the end of the Registrant's fiscal year for information concerning executive compensation. ITEMItem 12. SECURITY OWNERSHIP OF CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS AND MANAGEMENT.Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management. Reference is made to the Registrant's definitive proxy statement to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission within 120 days after the end of the Registrant's fiscal year for information concerning security ownership of each person known by the Company to own beneficially more than 5% of the outstanding shares of Common Stock, of each director of the Company and all executive officers and directors as a group. ITEMItem 13. CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED TRANSACTIONS.Certain Relationships and Related Transactions. Reference is made to the Registrant's definitive proxy statement to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission within 120 days after the end of the Registrant's fiscal year for information concerning certain relationships and related transactions. 2329 PART IV ITEMItem 14. EXHIBITS, FINANCIAL STATEMENT SCHEDULES AND REPORTS ON FORMExhibits, Financial Statement Schedules and Reports on Form 8-K (a) (1) The Registrant's financial statements together with a separate table of contents are annexed hereto. (2) The financial statement schedule is listed in the separate table of contents annexed hereto. (3) Exhibits. Exhibit Number Exhibit - ------ ------- 2.1 Agreement and Plan of Merger among Veeco Instruments Inc., Digital Instruments, Inc. and its Securityholders dated February 28, 1998. (10) 2.2 Agreement and Plan of Merger among Veeco Instruments Inc., Veeco Acquisition Corp. and Wyko Corporation and its Securityholders dated April 28, 1997. (7) 3.1 Form of Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation of the Company. (8) 3.2 Form of Amended and Restated By-Laws of the Company. (1) 4.1 Form of Certificate for Common Stock. (1) 10.1 Lease, dated July 29, 1991 between Sloan Technology Corporation, a California corporation, and Sloan Technology Corporation, a Delaware corporation. (1) 10.2 OEM Agreement for Acquisition of IBM Products, dated July 20, 1993 by and between IBM and the Company. (2) 10.3 Modification to OEM Agreement for Acquisition of IBM Products, dated July 20, 1993, by and between IBM and the Company. (2) 10.4 UPA Technology Division, Veeco Instruments Inc. and Roentgenanalytik Messtechnik GmbH XRF Development Program Agreement, dated December 8, 1992, between Veeco-UPA Technology Division and Roentgenanalytik Messtechnik GmbH. (2) 10.5 Distributor Agreement, dated as of December 15, 1974 between Sloan Technology Corporation and ULVAC Corporation. (2) 10.6 Amendment to Distributor Agreement, dated March 11, 1993, by and between Sloan Technology Corporation and ULVAC Japan, Ltd.(2) 10.7 Exclusive Sales Agreement, dated as of July 1, 1993, between Seiko Instruments and the Company. (2) 10.8 Exclusive Sales Agreement, dated as of July 1, 1993, between the Company and Seiko Instruments. (2) 10.9 Distributor Agreement, dated March 5, 1993, between the Company and Seiko Instruments.(2) 10.11 Letter Agreement, dated November 22, 1993 between the Company and John F. Rein, Jr. (1) 30 10.12 First Amendment and Restatement of Stock Option Agreement dated as of October 13, 1994 between the Company and John F. Rein, Jr. (1) 10.13 Agreement dated as of February 7, 1994, effective as of December 31, 1993, between the Company and Robert Oates, together with Amendment No. 1 thereto dated as of October 13, 1994. (1) 10.15 Veeco Instruments Inc. 1994 Stock Option Plan for Outside Directors. (1) 10.19 Letter Agreement dated January 16, 1995 between the Company and John Kiernan. (3) 10.20 Amended and Restated Veeco Instruments Inc. Employees' Stock Option Plan. (4) 10.21 Veeco Instruments Inc. Employees Stock Purchase Plan. (4) 10.22 OEM Agreement for acquisition of IBM products, dated October 12, 1995, between International Business Machines Corporation and Veeco Instruments Inc. (5) 10.24 Lease dated July 1, 1993 and lease renewal dated February 26, 1996 between Lambda (Santa Barbara) Inc., a California Corporation, and Veeco Instruments Inc., a Delaware Corporation. (6) 10.25 Credit Agreement dated July 31, 1996 among the Registrant, Fleet Bank N.A. and The Chase Manhattan Bank. (6) 10.26 Security Agreement dated July 31, 1996 among the Registrant, Fleet Bank N.A. and The Chase Manhattan Bank. (6) 10.27 Guarantee Agreement dated July 31, 1996 among the Registrant, Fleet Bank N.A. and The Chase Manhattan Bank. (6) 10.28 Guarantor's Security Agreement dated July 31, 1996 among Sloan Technology Corporation, Fleet Bank N.A. and The Chase Manhattan Bank. (6) 10.29 The Pledge Agreement dated July 31, 1996 among the Registrant, Fleet Bank N.A. and The Chase Manhattan Bank. (6) 10.30 The Patent and Trademark Security Agreement dated July 31, 1996 among the Registrant, Fleet Bank N.A. and The Chase Manhattan Bank. (6) 10.31 Attachment 2 to the OEM Agreement for Acquisition of IBM Products between International Business Machines Corporation and Veeco Instruments Inc. dated as of May 13, 1997 (confidential treatment has been granted for certain portions; confidential portions have been filed separately with the Securities and Exchange Commission). (9) 10.32 Lease Extension dated as of November 1, 1997 by and between J. Anthony Wilson and Veeco Instruments Inc.* 10.33 Letter Agreement, dated December 2, 1997 between Veeco Instruments Inc. and Dr. Donald Kania. * 21.1 Subsidiaries of the Registrant. * 23.1 Consent of Ernst & Young LLP. * 31 27.1 Financial Data Schedule of Veeco Instruments Inc. for the year ended December 31, 1997.* 27.2 Financial Data Schedule of Veeco Instruments Inc. for the year ended December 31, 1996 (Restated).* *Filed herewith. (1) Previously filed as an Exhibit to the Registrant's Registration Statement on Form S-1 (Registration No. 33-85184) and incorporated herein by reference. (2) Previously filed as an Exhibit to the Registrant's Registration Statement on Form S-1 (Registration No. 33-85184) and incorporated herein by reference; confidential treatment granted. (3) Previously filed as an Exhibit to the Registrant's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 1994 and incorporated herein by reference. (4) Previously filed as an Exhibit to the Registrant's Registration Statement on Form S-1 (Registration No. 33-93958) and incorporated herein by reference. (5) Previously filed as an Exhibit to the Registrant's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 1995 and incorporated herein by reference; confidential treatment granted. (6) Previously filed as an Exhibit to the Registrant's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 1996 and incorporated herein by reference. (7) Previously filed as an Exhibit to the Registrant's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 1997 and incorporated herein by reference. (8) Previously filed as an Exhibit to the Registrant's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 1997 and incorporated herein by reference. (9) Incorporated by reference from the Registrant's Current Report on Form 8-K dated July 2, 1997. (10) Incorporated by reference from the Registrant's Current Report on Form 8-K dated March 9, 1998. (b) Reports on Form 8-K. The Registrant filed a Form 8-K on February 13, 1998 reporting that the Registrant entered into an agreement in principle with Digital Instruments Inc., ("Digital"), pursuant to which Digital agreed to merge with and into the Registrant and reference was made to the press release dated February 9, 1998 announcing the execution of such. The Registrant filed a Form 8-K on March 9, 1998 reporting that the Registrant signed a definitive merger agreement with Digital and reference was made to the press release dated March 2, 1998 announcing the execution of such. (c) Exhibits: See Index to Exhibits. (d) Consolidated Financial Statement Schedule. Schedule II.................Valuation and Qualifying Accounts All other schedules are omitted because they are not applicable or the required information is shown in the Consolidated Financial Statements or notes thereto. 32 SIGNATURES Pursuant to the requirements of Section 13 or 15 (d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, the Registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized. VEECO INSTRUMENTS INC. By /s/ Edward H. Braun -------------------------- Edward H. Braun, Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, this report has been signed below by the following persons on behalf of the Registrant and in the capacities and on the dates indicated.
Signature Title Date --------- ----- ---- /s/ Edward H. Braun Chairman, Chief Executive Officer, March 27, 1998 - ------------------------------------ President and Director Edward H. Braun (principal executive officer) /s/ John F. Rein, Jr. Vice President-Finance, Chief March 27, 1998 - ------------------------------------ Financial Officer, Secretary and John F. Rein, Jr. Treasurer (principal financial officer) /s/ John P. Kiernan Corporate Controller March 27, 1998 - ------------------------------------ (principal accounting officer) John P. Kiernan /s/ Walter J. Scherr Director March 27, 1998 - ------------------------------------ Walter J. Scherr /s/ Richard A. D'Amore Director March 27, 1998 - ------------------------------------ Richard A. D'Amore /s/ Paul R. Low Director March 27, 1998 - ------------------------------------ Paul R. Low /s/ Joel A. Elftmann Director March 27, 1998 - ------------------------------------ Joel A. Elftmann Director March 27, 1998 - ------------------------------------ James Wyant
Form 10-K-Item 14(a)(1) and (2) Veeco Instruments Inc. and Subsidiaries Index to Consolidated Financial Statements and Financial Statement Schedule The following consolidated financial statements of Veeco Instruments Inc. and subsidiaries are included in Item 8: Report of Independent Auditors........................................ F- 2 Consolidated Balance Sheets at December 31, 1997 and 1996............. F- 3 Consolidated Statements of Income for the years ended December 31, 1997, 1996 and 1995.................................... F- 4 Consolidated Statements of Shareholders' Equity for the years ended December 31, 1997, 1996 and 1995.................... F- 5 Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows for the years ended December 31, 1997, 1996 and 1995.................................... F- 6 Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements............................ F- 7 The following consolidated financial statement schedule of Veeco Instruments Inc. and subsidiaries is included in Item 14(a): Schedule II--Valuation and Qualifying Accounts........................ F-24 All other schedules for which provision is made in the applicable accounting regulation of the Securities and Exchange Commission are not required under the instructions or are inapplicable and therefore have been omitted. F-1 Report of Independent Auditors To the Shareholders and the Board of Directors Veeco Instruments Inc. We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of Veeco Instruments Inc. and subsidiaries as of December 31, 1997 and 1996, and the related consolidated statements of income, shareholders' equity, and cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 1997. Our audits also included the financial statement schedule in the Index at Item 14(a). These financial statements and schedule are the responsibility of the Company's management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these financial statements and schedule based on our audits. We conducted our audits in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement. An audit includes examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. An audit also includes assessing the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall financial statement presentation. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion. In our opinion, the consolidated financial statements referred to above present fairly, in all material respects, the consolidated financial position of Veeco Instruments Inc. and subsidiaries at December 31, 1997 and 1996, and the consolidated results of their operations and their cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 1997, in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles. Also, in our opinion, the related financial statement schedule, when considered in relation to the basic financial statements taken as a whole, presents fairly in all material respects the information set forth therein. /s/ ERNST & YOUNG LLP Melville, New York February 9, 1998 F-2 Veeco Instruments Inc. and Subsidiaries Consolidated Balance Sheets (Dollars in thousands)
December 31 1997 1996 ----------------------------- Assets Current assets: Cash and cash equivalents $ 18,505 $23,465 Accounts and trade notes receivable, less allowance for doubtful accounts of $755 in 1997 and $553 in 1996 33,265 24,114 Inventories 39,077 25,351 Prepaid expenses and other current assets 1,434 1,229 Deferred income taxes 4,602 2,448 ----------------------------- Total current assets 96,883 76,607 Property, plant and equipment at cost, net 21,455 13,087 Excess of cost over net assets acquired, less accumulated amortization of $1,040 in 1997 and $910 in 1996 4,318 4,448 Other assets 5,083 2,655 ----------------------------- Total assets $127,739 $96,797 ============================= Liabilities and shareholders' equity Current liabilities: Accounts payable $ 20,093 $11,875 Accrued expenses 18,290 13,719 Income taxes payable 3,999 1,546 Current portion of long-term debt 115 106 ----------------------------- Total current liabilities 42,497 27,246 Deferred income taxes 702 257 Long-term debt 2,448 2,563 Other liabilities 310 461 Shareholders' equity: Common stock, 25,000,000 and 9,500,000 shares authorized; 8,891,994 and 8,699,831 shares issued and outstanding at December 31, 1997 and 1996, respectively 89 87 Additional paid-in capital 51,469 47,611 Retained earnings 30,190 17,907 Cumulative translation adjustment 34 665 ----------------------------- Total shareholders' equity 81,782 66,270 ----------------------------- Total liabilities and shareholders' equity $127,739 $96,797 =============================
See accompanying notes. F-3 Veeco Instruments Inc. and Subsidiaries Consolidated Statements of Income (Dollars in thousands, except per share data)
Year ended December 31 1997 1996 1995 ----------------------------------------------------- Net sales $ 165,408 $ 115,042 $ 85,825 Cost of sales 88,177 62,201 44,666 ----------------------------------------------------- Gross profit 77,231 52,841 41,159 Costs and expenses: Research and development expense 18,436 12,464 9,157 Selling, general and administrative expense 33,319 23,722 20,399 Amortization expense 275 237 202 Other--net (433) (257) 10 Merger expenses 2,250 - - Write-off of purchased in-process technology 4,200 - - ----------------------------------------------------- 58,047 36,166 29,768 ----------------------------------------------------- Operating income 19,184 16,675 11,391 Interest income, net 525 798 152 ----------------------------------------------------- Income before income taxes 19,709 17,473 11,543 Income tax provision 7,426 6,638 2,306 ----------------------------------------------------- Net income $ 12,283 $ 10,835 $ 9,237 ===================================================== Earnings per share: Net income per common share $1.39 $1.25 $1.13 Diluted net income per common share $1.32 $1.22 $1.09 Weighted average shares outstanding 8,808,000 8,667,000 8,166,000 Diluted weighted average shares outstanding 9,324,000 8,906,000 8,484,000
See accompanying notes. F-4 Veeco Instruments Inc. and Subsidiaries Consolidated Statements of Shareholders' Equity (Dollars in thousands)
Additional Retained Cumulative Common Stock Paid-in Earnings Translation Shares Amount Capital (Deficit) Adjustment Total -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Balance at December 31, 1994 7,812,527 $ 79 $32,792 $(2,165) $ 641 $31,347 Exercise of stock options 38,497 - 82 82 Net proceeds from public offering 800,000 8 14,452 14,460 Translation adjustment 128 128 Net income 9,237 9,237 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Balance at December 31, 1995 8,651,024 87 47,326 7,072 769 55,254 Exercise of stock options and stock issuances under stock purchase plan 48,807 - 285 - - 285 Translation adjustment - - - - (104) (104) Net income - - - 10,835 - 10,835 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Balance at December 31, 1996 8,699,831 87 47,611 17,907 665 66,270 Exercise of stock options and stock issuances under stock purchase plan 192,163 2 2,068 - - 2,070 Translation adjustment - - - - (631) (631) Stock option income tax benefit - - 1,790 - - 1,790 Net income - - - 12,283 - 12,283 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Balance at December 31, 1997 8,891,994 $ 89 $51,469 $30,190 $ 34 $81,782 =========================================================================
See accompanying notes. F-5 Veeco Instruments Inc. and Subsidiaries Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows (Dollars in thousands)
Year ended December 31 1997 1996 1995 ---------------------------------------------- Operating activities Net income $ 12,283 $ 10,835 $ 9,237 Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash provided by operating activities: Depreciation and amortization 1,649 1,869 1,490 Deferred income taxes (1,709) (895) (46) Write-off of purchased in-process technology 4,200 - - Changes in operating assets and liabilities: Accounts receivable (9,533) (2,664) (7,235) Inventories (12,190) (7,592) (5,250) Accounts payable 8,267 2,888 1,402 Accrued expenses and other current liabilities 573 2,791 2,779 Income taxes payable 2,457 508 714 Other, net 816 929 (1,076) ---------------------------------------------- Net cash provided by operating activities 6,813 8,669 2,015 ---------------------------------------------- Investing activities Capital expenditures, net (9,106) (3,883) (1,155) Net assets of business acquired (4,375) - - ---------------------------------------------- Net cash used in investing activities (13,481) (3,883) (1,155) ---------------------------------------------- Financing activities Net proceeds from public stock offering - - 14,460 Exercise of stock options and issuance of stock under stock purchase plan 2,070 285 82 Long-term debt repayments (153) (97) (34) Other - (195) (124) ---------------------------------------------- Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities 1,917 (7) 14,384 ---------------------------------------------- Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents (209) 161 (144) ---------------------------------------------- Net (decrease) increase in cash and cash equivalents (4,960) 4,940 15,100 Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period 23,465 18,525 3,425 ---------------------------------------------- Cash and cash equivalents at end of period $ 18,505 $ 23,465 $ 18,525 ==============================================
See accompanying notes. F-6 Veeco Instruments Inc. and Subsidiaries Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements December 31, 1997 1. Business Combinations and Basis of Presentation On July 25, 1997, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Veeco Instruments Inc. ("Veeco" or the "Company") merged into Wyko Corporation ("Wyko") of Tucson, Arizona, a leading supplier of optical interferometric measurement systems for the data storage and semiconductor industries. Under the merger, Wyko shareholders received 2,863,810 shares of Veeco common stock and holders of options to acquire Wyko common stock received options to acquire an aggregate of 136,190 shares of Veeco common stock. The merger was accounted for as a pooling of interests transaction and, accordingly, historical financial data has been restated to include Wyko data. Merger expenses of approximately $2,250,000 pertaining to investment banking, legal fees and other one-time transaction costs were charged to operating expenses during the year ended December 31, 1997. The following table displays the revenues and net income of the separate companies for the periods preceding the business combination and the post merger amounts through December 31, 1997: Year ended December 31 1997 1996 1995 ---------------------------------------- Revenues: Veeco (pre-merger) $ 71,211 $ 96,832 $72,359 Wyko 18,285 18,210 13,466 Veeco (post-merger) 75,912 - - ---------------------------------------- Combined $165,408 $115,042 $85,825 ======================================== Net income: Veeco (pre-merger) $ 2,723 $ 8,038 $ 6,792 Wyko 3,472 2,797 2,445 Veeco (post-merger) 6,088 - - ---------------------------------------- Combined $ 12,283 $ 10,835 $ 9,237 ======================================== On April 10, 1997, Veeco acquired from Materials Research Corporation, certain assets of the PVD ("Physical Vapor Deposition") data storage business for cash of $4,375,000 plus the assumption of certain liabilities. The acquisition was accounted for using the purchase method of accounting. Accordingly, the purchase price was allocated to the net assets acquired based on their estimated fair values as determined by an independent appraisal, including $4,200,000 allocated to in-process engineering and development projects. The associated projects had not reached technological feasibility and had no alternative future uses and thus the amounts allocated to such projects have been expensed as of the date of acquisition. F-7 Veeco Instruments Inc. and Subsidiaries Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (continued) 2. Significant Accounting Policies Organization Veeco designs, manufactures, markets and services a broad line of precision process equipment and process metrology systems used to manufacture and test microelectronic products for the data storage and semiconductor industries. The company sells its products worldwide to many of the leading semiconductor and data storage manufacturers. In addition, the Company sells its products to companies in the flat panel display and high frequency device industries, as well as to other industries, research and development centers and universities. Use of Estimates The preparation of financial statements in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported in the financial statements and accompanying notes. Actual results could differ from those estimates. Principles of Consolidation The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of Veeco and its subsidiaries. Intercompany items and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation. Revenue Revenue is recognized when title passes to the customer, generally upon shipment. Service and maintenance contract revenues are recorded as deferred income, which is included in other accrued expenses, and recognized as income on a straight-line basis over the service period of the related contract. The Company provides for (1) the estimated costs of fulfilling its installation obligations and (2) warranty costs at the time the related revenue is recorded. Cash Flows The Company considers all highly liquid investments with an original maturity of three months or less when purchased to be cash equivalents. Interest paid during 1997, 1996 and 1995 was approximately $445,000, $301,000 and, $393,000, respectively. Income taxes paid in 1997, 1996 and 1995 was approximately $5,186,000, $6,403,000 and $956,000, respectively. F-8 Veeco Instruments Inc. and Subsidiaries Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (continued) 2. Significant Accounting Policies (continued) Inventories Inventories are stated at the lower of cost (principally first-in, first-out method) or market. Depreciable Assets Depreciation and amortization are generally computed by the straight-line method and are charged against income over the estimated useful lives of depreciable assets. Amortization of equipment recorded under capital lease obligations is included in depreciation of property, plant and equipment. Intangible Assets Excess of cost of investment over net assets of business acquired is being amortized on a straight-line basis over 40 years. Other intangible assets, included within other assets on the balance sheet, consisting principally of purchased technology, patents, software licenses and deferred finance costs of $3,300,000 and $892,000 at December 31, 1997 and 1996, respectively, are net of accumulated amortization of $1,025,000 and $577,000. Other intangible assets are amortized over periods ranging from 3 to 17 years. Environmental Compliance and Remediation Environmental compliance costs include ongoing maintenance, monitoring and similar costs. Such costs are expensed as incurred. Environmental remediation costs are accrued when environmental assessments and/or remedial efforts are probable and the cost can be reasonably estimated. Foreign Operations Foreign currency denominated assets and liabilities are translated into U.S. dollars at the exchange rates existing at the balance sheet date. Resulting translation adjustments due to fluctuations in the exchange rates are recorded as a separate component of shareholders' equity. Income and expense items are translated at the average exchange rates during the respective periods. F-9 Veeco Instruments Inc. and Subsidiaries Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (continued) 2. Significant Accounting Policies (continued) Research and Development Costs Research and development costs are charged to expense as incurred and include expenses for development of new technology and the transition of the technology into new products or services. Advertising and Promotional Expense The cost of advertising is expensed as of the first showing. The Company incurred $3,280,000, $2,264,000 and $1,433,000 in advertising costs during 1997, 1996 and 1995, respectively. Stock Based Compensation The Company continues to follow Accounting Principles Board Opinion No. 25, "Accounting for Stock Issued to Employees" (APB 25) and related Interpretations in accounting for its stock-based compensation plans. Under APB 25, because the exercise price of the Company's employee stock options is set equal to the market price of the underlying stock on the date of grant, no compensation expense is recognized. Fair Value of Financial Instruments The carrying amounts of the Company's financial instruments, including cash and cash equivalents, accounts receivable, accounts payable and accrued expenses approximates fair value due to their short maturities. The fair values of the Company's debt, including current maturities, are estimated using discounted cash flow analyses, based on the estimated current incremental borrowing rates for similar types of securities. The carrying amount of the Company's debt at December 31, 1997 and 1996 approximates fair value. F-10 Veeco Instruments Inc. and Subsidiaries Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (continued) 2. Significant Accounting Policies (continued) Earnings Per Share In 1997, the Financial Accounting Standards Board ("FASB") issued Statement No. 128, "Earnings per Share." Statement No. 128 replaced the calculation of primary and fully diluted earnings per share with basic and diluted earnings per share. Unlike primary earnings per share, basic earnings per share excludes any dilutive effects of options, warrants and convertible securities. Diluted earnings per share is very similar to the previously reported fully diluted earnings per share. All earnings per share amounts for all periods have been presented, and where appropriate, restated to conform to the Statement No. 128 requirements. The following table sets forth the reconciliation of weighted average shares outstanding and diluted weighted average shares outstanding:
1997 1996 1995 ---------------------------------------------------------- Weighted average shares outstanding 8,808,000 8,667,000 8,166,000 Dilutive effect of stock options 516,000 239,000 318,000 ---------------------------------------------------------- Diluted weighted average shares outstanding 9,324,000 8,906,000 8,484,000 ==========================================================
Recent Accounting Pronouncements In June 1997, the FASB issued Statements No. 130 "Reporting Comprehensive Income," and No. 131 "Disclosures About Segments of an Enterprise and Related Information." These statements are effective for fiscal years commencing after December 15, 1997. The Company will be required to comply with the provisions of these statements in fiscal 1998. The Company has not assessed the effect that these new standards will have on its consolidated financial statements and/or disclosures. Reclassifications Certain amounts in the 1996 and 1995 financial statements have been reclassified to conform with the 1997 presentation. F-11 Veeco Instruments Inc. and Subsidiaries Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (continued) 3. Balance Sheet Information
December 31 1997 1996 -------------------------------- Inventories: Raw materials $21,671,000 $11,159,000 Work in process 7,253,000 6,406,000 Finished goods 10,153,000 7,786,000 -------------------------------- $39,077,000 $25,351,000 ================================ December 31 Estimated 1997 1996 Useful Lives ---------------------------------------------------- Property, plant and equipment: Land $ 3,166,000 $ 2,166,000 Buildings and improvements 10,310,000 7,777,000 10-31 years Machinery and equipment 17,807,000 11,853,000 3-7 years Leasehold improvements 516,000 150,000 3-7 years -------------------------------- 31,799,000 21,946,000 Less accumulated depreciation and amortization 10,344,000 8,859,000 -------------------------------- $21,455,000 $13,087,000 ================================ December 31 1997 1996 -------------------------------- Accrued expenses: Litigation reserve $ 1,500,000 $ 1,500,000 Payroll and related benefits 4,096,000 2,632,000 Taxes, other than income 1,971,000 2,289,000 Deferred service contract revenue 594,000 532,000 Customer deposits and advanced billings 2,262,000 3,861,000 Installation and warranty 4,497,000 971,000 Other 3,370,000 1,934,000 -------------------------------- $18,290,000 $13,719,000 ================================
F-12 Veeco Instruments Inc. and Subsidiaries Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (continued) 4. Long-term Debt The Company has a credit facility (the "Credit Facility") which may be used for working capital, acquisitions and general corporate purposes. The Credit Facility provides the Company with up to $30 million of availability. The Credit Facility's interest rate is the prime rate of the lending banks, but is adjustable to a maximum rate of 3/4% above the prime rate in the event the Company's ratio of debt to cash flow exceeds a defined ratio. A LIBOR based interest rate option is also provided. The Credit Facility expires July 31, 1999, but under certain conditions is convertible into a term loan, which would amortize quarterly through July 31, 2002. The Credit Facility is secured by substantially all of the Company's personal property as well as the stock of its domestic subsidiaries. The Credit Facility also contains certain restrictive covenants, which among other things, impose limitations with respect to incurrence of certain additional indebtedness, incurrence of liens, payments of dividends, long-term leases, investments, mergers, consolidations and specified sales of assets. The Company is also required to satisfy certain financial tests. As of December 31, 1997 and 1996, no borrowings were outstanding under the Company's Credit Facility. Long-term debt consists of a mortgage note which was refinanced in October 1995. The note, which bears interest at a rate of 8.5%, matures on October 14, 2002 and is collateralized by a parcel of land and a building. Long-term debt matures as follows: 1998 $ 115,000 1999 125,000 2000 136,000 2001 149,000 2002 2,038,000 -------------- 2,563,000 Less current portion 115,000 -------------- $2,448,000 ============== F-13 Veeco Instruments Inc. and Subsidiaries Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (continued) 5. Stock Compensation Plans Pro forma information regarding net income and earnings per share is determined as if the Company had accounted for its stock options granted subsequent to December 31, 1994 under the fair value method estimated at the date of grant using a Black-Scholes option pricing model. The Company's pro forma information follows:
December 31 1997 1996 1995 --------------------------------------------- Pro forma net income $11,040,000 $10,337,000 $8,889,000 Pro forma diluted earnings per share $ 1.20 $ 1.17 $ 1.06
Fixed Option Plans The Company has two fixed option plans. The Veeco Instruments Inc. Amended and Restated 1992 Employees' Stock Option Plan (the "Stock Option Plan") provides for the grant to officers and key employees of up to 1,426,787 options (224,546 options available for future grants as of December 31, 1997) to purchase shares of Common Stock of the Company. Stock options granted pursuant to the Stock Option Plan become exercisable over a three-year period following the grant date and expire after ten years. The Veeco Instruments Inc. 1994 Stock Option Plan for Outside Directors, as amended, (the "Directors' Option Plan"), provides for the automatic grant of stock options to each member of the Board of Directors of the Company who is not an employee of the Company. The Directors' Option Plan provides for the grant of up to 115,000 options (64,003 options available for future grants as of December 31, 1997) to purchase shares of Common Stock of the Company. Such options granted are exercisable immediately and expire after ten years. In connection with the merger with Wyko, holders of the then outstanding Wyko stock options received options to purchase an aggregate of 136,190 shares of Veeco common stock. The fair values of these options at the date of grant was estimated with the following weighted-average assumptions for 1997, 1996 and 1995: risk-free interest rate of 6.3%, no dividend yield, volatility factor of the expected market price of the Company's common stock of 50% and a weighted-average expected life of the option of four years. F-14 Veeco Instruments Inc. and Subsidiaries Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (continued) 5. Stock Compensation Plans (continued) A summary of the Company's stock option plans as of December 31, 1995, 1996 and 1997, and changes during the years ended on those dates is presented below:
1995 1996 1997 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Weighted- Option Weighted-Average Average Shares Price Shares Exercise Shares Exercise (000) Per Share (000) Price (000) Price ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Outstanding at beginning of year 340 $.69 to $11.00 606 $ 8.85 658 $ 9.44 Granted 314 9.50 to 22.75 175 13.68 681 32.22 Exercised (38) .69 to 4.50 (32) 2.68 (165) 9.76 Forfeited (10) .69 to 13.38 (91) 13.67 (20) 21.60 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Outstanding at end of year 606 $.69 to $22.75 658 $ 9.44 1,154 $ 22.64 ============================================================================== Options exercisable at year-end 204 $.69 to $13.38 324 $ 5.72 330 $ 9.25 Weighted-average fair value of options granted during the year $6.62 $ 6.24 $ 14.83
The following table summarizes information about fixed stock options outstanding at December 31, 1997:
Options Outstanding Options Exercisable -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Number Number Outstanding at Outstanding at December 31, Weighted-Average December 31, Range of 1997 Remaining Weighted-Average 1997 Weighted-Average Exercise Price (000's) Contractual Life Exercise Price (000's) Exercise Price - --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- $ 0.69 2 4.8 $ 0.69 2 $ 0.69 1.27 95 .5 1.27 95 1.27 2.18 - 3.00 70 8.0 2.54 70 2.54 4.50 19 6.6 4.50 19 4.50 9.50 - 13.38 197 7.6 12.67 91 12.81 14.50 - 21.50 116 8.2 15.13 32 16.66 24.88 - 31.00 426 9.4 27.26 - - 37.63 - 50.25 192 9.7 40.32 21 45.75 57.25 - 57.25 37 9.8 57.25 - - -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 0.69 - 57.25 1,154 8.9 $22.64 330 $ 9.25 ======================================================================================
F-15 Veeco Instruments Inc. and Subsidiaries Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (continued) 5. Stock Compensation Plans (continued) Employee Stock Purchase Plan Under the Veeco Instruments Inc. Employee Stock Purchase Plan (the "Plan"), the Company is authorized to issue up to 250,000 shares of Common Stock to its full-time domestic employees, nearly all of whom are eligible to participate. Under the terms of the Plan, employees can choose each year to have up to 6% of their annual base earnings withheld to purchase the Company's Common Stock. The purchase price of the stock is 85% of the lower of its beginning-of-year or end-of-year market price. Under the Plan, the Company issued 12,996 shares, 14,278 shares and 16,476 shares to employees in 1997, 1996 and 1995, respectively. The fair value of the employees' purchase rights were estimated using the following assumptions for 1997, 1996 and 1995, respectively: no dividend yield for all years; an expected life of one year, one year and six months; expected volatility of 70%, 70% and 64%; and risk-free interest rates of 5.3%, 5.2% and 5.7%. The weighted-average fair value of those purchase rights granted in 1997, 1996 and 1995 was $6.58, $5.20 and $5.40, respectively. As of December 31, 1997, the Company has reserved 1,442,260 and 206,250 shares of common stock for issuance upon exercise of stock options and issuance of shares pursuant to the Plan, respectively. 6. Income Taxes Deferred income taxes reflect the net tax effects of temporary differences between the carrying amounts of assets and liabilities for financial reporting purposes and the amounts used for income tax purposes. Significant components of the Company's deferred tax liabilities and assets as of December 31, 1997 and 1996 are as follows: December 31 1997 1996 -------------------------------- Deferred tax liabilities: Tax over book depreciation $ 702,000 $ 257,000 Deferred tax assets: Inventory valuation 2,247,000 1,704,000 Foreign net operating loss carryforwards 1,084,000 795,000 Warranty and installation 1,878,000 379,000 Other 387,000 365,000 ------------------------------ Total deferred tax assets 5,596,000 3,243,000 Valuation allowance (994,000) (795,000) ------------------------------ Net deferred tax assets 4,602,000 2,448,000 ------------------------------ Net deferred taxes $3,900,000 $2,191,000 ============================== F-16 Veeco Instruments Inc. and Subsidiaries Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (continued) 6. Income Taxes (continued) For financial reporting purposes, income (loss) before income taxes consists of: Year ended December 31 ---------------------------------------------------------- 1997 1996 1995 ---------------------------------------------------------- Domestic $19,726,000 $17,770,000 $11,282,000 Foreign (17,000) (297,000) 261,000 ---------------------------------------------------------- $19,709,000 $17,473,000 $11,543,000 ========================================================== Significant components of the provision (benefit) for income taxes are presented below:
Year ended December 31 ------------------------------------------ 1997 1996 1995 ------------------------------------------ Current: Federal $ 7,371,000 $6,442,000 $3,310,000 Foreign 306,000 129,000 379,000 State 1,458,000 1,239,000 280,000 Utilization of research tax credits - (277,000) (909,000) Utilization of net operating losses - - (708,000) ------------------------------------------ 9,135,000 7,533,000 2,352,000 Deferred: Federal (1,517,000) (795,000) 171,000 Foreign - - (90,000) State (192,000) (100,000) (127,000) ------------------------------------------ (1,709,000) (895,000) (46,000) ------------------------------------------ $ 7,426,000 $6,638,000 $2,306,000 ==========================================
F-17 Veeco Instruments Inc. and Subsidiaries Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (continued) 6. Income Taxes (continued) The following is a reconciliation of the income tax expense computed using the federal statutory rate to the Company's actual income tax expense:
Year ended December 31 -------------------------------------------- 1997 1996 1995 -------------------------------------------- Tax at U.S. statutory rates $6,898,000 $6,069,000 $ 3,924,000 State income taxes (net of federal benefit) 741,000 553,000 87,000 Goodwill amortization 46,000 46,000 44,000 Nondeductible merger expenses 700,000 - - Other nondeductible expenses 116,000 52,000 56,000 Recognition of previously unrecognized deferred tax assets, net - - (314,000) Operating losses not currently realizable 335,000 225,000 212,000 Operating losses currently realizable (13,000) - (1,582,000) Research and development tax credit (619,000) (184,000) (113,000) Benefit of foreign sales corporation (479,000) (173,000) (144,000) Other (299,000) 50,000 136,000 -------------------------------------------- $7,426,000 $6,638,000 $ 2,306,000 ============================================
Several of the Company's foreign subsidiaries have net operating loss carryforwards for foreign tax purposes of approximately $2,700,000 at December 31, 1997, a portion of which expires in years 1998 through 2002 and a portion for which the carryforward period is unlimited. F-18 Veeco Instruments Inc. and Subsidiaries Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (continued) 7. Commitments and Contingencies and Other Matters Veeco is party to agreements with IBM, as amended (the "IBM Agreements"), with respect to the IBM-manufactured Atomic Force Microscopes ("SXM Products"), pursuant to which, Veeco has been appointed exclusive worldwide sales and marketing representative to market, service and sell the SXM Products to customers in the microelectronic and data storage industries. Pursuant to the IBM Agreements, Veeco has agreed to purchase a minimum number of SXM Products. At December 31, 1997, Veeco's purchase commitment under these agreements which extend through February 2001 was approximately $8,000,000. Minimum lease commitments as of December 31, 1997 for property and equipment under operating lease agreements (exclusive of renewal options) are payable as follows: 1998 $1,300,000 1999 1,132,000 2000 901,000 2001 853,000 2002 856,000 Thereafter 617,000 ------------- $5,659,000 ============= Rent charged to operations amounted to $1,334,000, $921,000 and $816,000 in 1997, 1996 and 1995, respectively. In addition, the Company is obligated under the leases for certain other expenses, including real estate taxes and insurance. In compliance with a Cleanup and Abatement Order ("CAO") issued by the California Regional Water Quality Control Board, Central Coast Region, the Company completed soil remediation of a site which was leased by a predecessor of the Company in September 1995. The cost of the soil remediation was approximately $35,000. The Company is currently performing post-soil remediation groundwater monitoring at the site. Reports prepared by consultants indicate certain contaminants in samples of groundwater from underneath the site. The Company cannot predict the extent of groundwater contamination at the site and cannot determine at this time whether any or all of the groundwater contamination may be attributable to activities of neighboring parties. The Company cannot predict whether any groundwater remediation will be necessary or the costs, if any, of such remediation. F-19 Veeco Instruments Inc. and Subsidiaries Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (continued) 7. Commitments and Contingencies and Other Matters (continued) The Company may, under certain circumstances, be obligated to pay up to $250,000 in connection with the implementation of a comprehensive plan of environmental remediation at its Plainview, New York facility. The Company has been indemnified for any liabilities it may incur in excess of $250,000 with respect to any such remediation. No comprehensive plan has been required to date. Despite such indemnification, the Company does not believe that any material loss or expense is probable in connection with any remediation plan that may be proposed. The Company is aware that petroleum hydrocarbon contamination has been detected in the soil at the site of a facility leased by the Company in Santa Barbara, California. The Company has been indemnified for any liabilities it may incur which arise from environmental contamination at the site. Despite such indemnification, the Company does not believe that any material loss or expense is probable in connection with any such liabilities. The Company is a defendant in a patent infringement lawsuit filed in June 1988 in the United States District Court for the District of Arizona. The suit alleged that certain Company products infringed the plaintiff's patents, and sought monetary damages and an injunction. The case was decided adversely to the Company in June 1994. The Company appealed the decision which was partially reversed by a decision of the Court of Appeals, with an opinion determining that only certain Company products made in 1988 and 1989 infringed a patent. The case has been remanded to the District Court for a redetermination of damages. The Company has been ordered to establish and fund an escrow account in the amount of $1,500,000 until a final decision is reached. Such amount is included in other assets. The Company believes this escrow amount exceeds the amount sought in final recovery by the plaintiff. The Company has established a corresponding litigation reserve of $1,500,000. Management does not believe the ultimate resolution of this matter will have a material impact on the Company's consolidated financial position, results of operations or cash flows. F-20 Veeco Instruments Inc. and Subsidiaries Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (continued) 7. Commitments and Contingencies and Other Matters (continued) The Company's business depends in large part upon the capital expenditures of data storage, semiconductor and flat panel display manufacturers which accounted for the following percentages of the Company's net sales: December 31 1997 1996 1995 --------------------------------------------------- Data storage 65.1% 56.0% 41.6% Semiconductor 18.9 26.0 32.4 Flat panel display 2.2 3.2 5.1 The Company cannot predict whether the growth experienced in the microelectronics industry in the recent past will continue. Sales to one customer accounted for approximately 18%, 14% and 20% and sales to another customer accounted for approximately 14%, 15% and 8% of the Company's net sales during the years ended December 31, 1997, 1996 and 1995, respectively. At December 31, 1997 and 1996, accounts receivable due from two customers represented 20% and 21% of aggregate accounts receivable, respectively. The Company manufactures and sells its products to companies in different geographic locations. The Company performs periodic credit evaluations of its customers' financial condition, generally does not require collateral, and where appropriate, requires that letters of credit be provided on foreign sales. Receivables generally are due within 30-60 days. The Company's net accounts receivable are concentrated in the following geographic locations: December 31 1997 1996 --------------------------------------- United States $ 17,189 $ 12,970 Europe 5,867 3,769 Far East 9,778 7,128 Other 431 247 --------------------------------------- $ 33,265 $ 24,114 ======================================= F-21 Veeco Instruments Inc. and Subsidiaries Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (continued) 8. Foreign Operations and Geographic Area Information Information as to the Company's foreign operations and geographic area information (assets not specifically identified to Europe and the Far East are included in the United States amounts) is summarized below:
Net Sales Unaffiliated Customers Operating Income (Loss) Total Assets ------------------------------ ------------------------------ ------------------------------ 1997 1996 1995 1997 1996 1995 1997 1996 1995 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ (In thousands) United States $160,968 $110,273 $80,292 $19,209 $17,106 $11,265 $117,816 $89,059 $70,281 Europe (1) 12,436 11,214 11,863 584 (69) 651 8,786 6,953 8,790 Japan 1,262 915 913 (609) (231) (394) 1,137 785 539 Eliminations (9,258) (7,360) (7,243) - (131) (131) - - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ $165,408 $115,042 $85,825 $19,184 $16,675 $11,391 $127,739 $96,797 $79,610 ================================================================================================
(1) Principally reflects the Company's operations and assets in France, United Kingdom and Germany. Export sales from the Company's United States operations are as follows: 1997 1996 1995 ----------------------------------------- (In thousands) Asia Pacific $30,033 $24,146 $16,140 Japan 16,353 17,433 10,615 Europe 4,088 1,814 1,704 Other 1,298 748 822 ----------------------------------------- $51,772 $44,141 $29,281 ========================================= The aggregate foreign exchange gains and (losses) included in determining consolidated results of operations were $(34,000), $(153,000) and $100,000 in 1997, 1996, and 1995, respectively. F-22 Veeco Instruments Inc. and Subsidiaries Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (continued) 9. Defined Contribution Benefit Plans The Company maintains two defined contribution plans under Section 401(k) of the Internal Revenue Code. Principally of all of the Company's domestic full-time employees are eligible to participate in one or the other plan. Under the plans, employees may contribute up to a maximum of 18% or 20% of their annual wages. Employees are immediately vested in their contributions. The plans provide for matching contributions by the Company, which vest over a five-year period. Company contributions to the plans were $296,000, $205,000 and $108,000 in 1997, 1996 and 1995, respectively. F-23 Veeco Instruments Inc. and Subsidiaries Schedule II--Valuation and Qualifying Accounts
- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- COL. A COL. B COL. C - --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Additions ------------------------------------------- Charged to Balance at Beginning Charged to Other Description of Period Costs and Expenses Accounts - --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Deducted from asset accounts: Year ended December 31, 1997 Allowance for doubtful accounts $ 553,000 $248,000 $ - Valuation allowance on net deferred tax assets 795,000 199,000 - -------------------------------------------------------------- $1,348,000 $447,000 $ - ============================================================== Deducted from asset accounts: Year ended December 31, 1996 Allowance for doubtful accounts $ 592,000 $ 50,000 $ - Valuation allowance on net deferred tax assets 1,913,000 - - -------------------------------------------------------------- $2,505,000 $ 50,000 $ - ============================================================== Deducted from asset accounts: Year ended December 31, 1995: Allowance for doubtful accounts $ 458,000 $147,000 $ - Valuation allowance on net deferred tax assets 2,858,000 - - -------------------------------------------------------------- $3,316,000 $147,000 $ - ==============================================================
--------------------------------------- COL. D COL. E --------------------------------------- Balance at End of Description Deductions Period - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Deducted from asset accounts: Year ended December 31, 1997 Allowance for doubtful accounts $ 46,000 $ 755,000 Valuation allowance on net deferred tax assets - 994,000 -------------------------------------- $ 46,000 $1,749,000 ====================================== Deducted from asset accounts: Year ended December 31, 1996 Allowance for doubtful accounts $ 89,000 $ 553,000 Valuation allowance on net deferred tax assets 1,118,000 795,000 ------------------------------------- $1,207,000 $1,348,000 ===================================== Deducted from asset accounts: Year ended December 31, 1995: Allowance for doubtful accounts $ 13,000 $ 592,000 Valuation allowance on net deferred tax assets 945,000 1,913,000 ------------------------------------- $ 958,000 $2,505,000 =====================================
F-24 INDEX TO EXHIBITS Exhibit Number Exhibit - -------- ------- 2.1 Agreement and Plan of Merger among Veeco Instruments Inc., Digital Instruments, Inc. and its Securityholders dated February 28, 1998. (10) 2.2 Agreement and Plan of Merger among Veeco Instruments Inc., Veeco Acquisition Corp. and Wyko Corporation and its Securityholders dated April 28, 1997. (7) 3.1 Form of Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation of the Company. (8) 3.2 Form of Amended and Restated By-Laws of the Company. (1) 4.1 Form of Certificate for Common Stock. (1) 10.1 Lease dated July 29, 1991, between Sloan Technology Corporation, a California corporation, and Sloan Technology Corporation, a Delaware corporation. (1) 10.2 OEM Agreement for Acquisition of IBM Products, dated July 20, 1993 by and between IBM and the Company. (2) 10.3 Modification to OEM Agreement for Acquisition of IBM Products, dated July 20, 1993, by and between IBM and the Company. (2) 10.4 UPA Technology Division, Veeco Instruments Inc. and Roentgenanalytik Messtechnik GmbH XRF Development Program Agreement, dated December 8, 1992, between Veeco-UPA Technology Division and Roentgenanalytik Messtechnik GmbH. (2) 10.5 Distributor Agreement, dated as of December 15, 1974 between Sloan Technology Corporation and ULVAC Corporation. (2) 10.6 Amendment to Distributor Agreement, dated March 11, 1993, by and between Sloan Technology Corporation and ULVAC Japan, Ltd.(2) 10.7 Exclusive Sales Agreement, dated as of July 1, 1993, between Seiko Instruments and the Company. (2) 10.8 Exclusive Sales Agreement, dated as of July 1, 1993, between the Company and Seiko Instruments. (2) 10.9 Distributor Agreement, dated March 5, 1993, between the Company and Seiko Instruments.(2) 10.11 Letter Agreement, dated November 22, 1993 between the Company and John F. Rein, Jr. (1) 10.12 First Amendment and Restatement of Stock Option Agreement dated as of October 13, 1994 between the Company and John F. Rein, Jr. (1) 10.13 Agreement dated as of February 7, 1994, effective as of December 31, 1993, between the Company and Robert Oates, together with Amendment No. 1 thereto dated as of October 13, 1994. (1) 1 10.15 Veeco Instruments Inc. 1994 Stock Option Plan for Outside Directors. (1) 24 Exhibit Number Exhibit 10.19 Letter Agreement dated January 16, 1995 between the Company and John Kiernan. (3) 10.20 Amended and Restated Veeco Instruments Inc. Employees' Stock Option Plan. (4) 10.21 Veeco Instruments Inc. Employees Stock Purchase Plan. (4) 10.22 OEM Agreement for acquisition of IBM products, dated October 12, 1995, between International Business Machines Corporation and Veeco Instruments Inc. (5) 10.24 Lease dated July 1, 1993 and Leaselease renewal dated February 26, 1996 between Lambda (Santa Barbara) Inc., a California Corporation, and Veeco Instruments Inc., a Delaware Corporation. (6) 10.25 Credit Agreement dated July 31, 1996 among the Registrant, Fleet Bank N.A. and The Chase Manhattan Bank. (7)(6) 10.26 Security Agreement dated July 31, 1996 among the Registrant, Fleet Bank N.A. and The Chase Manhattan Bank. (7)(6) 10.27 Guarantee Agreement dated July 31, 1996 among the Registrant, Fleet Bank N.A. and The Chase Manhattan Bank. (7)(6) 10.28 Guarantor's Security Agreement dated July 31, 1996 among Sloan Technology Corporation, Fleet Bank N.A. and The Chase Manhattan Bank. (7)(6) 10.29 The Pledge Agreement dated July 31, 1996 among the Registrant, Fleet Bank N.A. and The Chase Manhattan Bank. (7)(6) 10.30 The Patent and Trademark Security Agreement dated July 31, 1996 among the Registrant, Fleet Bank N.A. and The Chase Manhattan Bank. (7)(6) 10.31 Attachment 2 to the OEM Agreement for Acquisition of IBM Products between International Business Machines Corporation and Veeco Instruments Inc. dated as of May 13, 1997 (confidential treatment has been granted for certain portions; confidential portions have been filed separately with the Securities and Exchange Commission). (9) 10.32 Lease Extension dated as of November 1, 1997 by and between J. Anthony Wilson and Veeco Instruments Inc.* 10.33 Letter Agreement, dated December 2, 1997 between Veeco Instruments Inc. and Dr. Donald Kania. * 21.1 Subsidiaries of the Registrant. (1)* 23.1 Consent of Ernst & Young LLP. * 2727.1 Financial Data Schedule of Veeco Instruments Inc. for the year ended December 31, 1996. 1997.* 27.2 Financial Data Schedule of Veeco Instruments Inc. for the year ended December 31, 1996 (Restated).* *Filed herewith. (1) Previously filed as an Exhibit to the Registrant's Registration Statement on Form S-1 (Registration No. 33-85184) and incorporated herein by reference. 2 (2) Previously filed as an Exhibit to the Registrant's Registration Statement on Form S-1 (Registration No. 33-85184) and incorporated herein by reference; confidential treatment granted. (3) Previously filed as an Exhibit to the Registrant's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 1994 and incorporated herein by reference. (4) Previously filed as an Exhibit to the Registrant's Registration Statement on Form S-1 (Registration No. 33-93958) and incorporated herein by reference. (5) Previously filed as an Exhibit to the Registrant's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 1995 and incorporated herein by reference; confidential treatment granted. (6) Previously filed as an Exhibit to the Registrant's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31,June 30, 1996 and incorporated herein by reference. (7) Previously filed as an Exhibit to the Registrant's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 1996March 31, 1997 and incorporated herein by reference. 25 (b) Reports on Form 8-K. None. (c) Exhibits: See Index to Exhibits. (d) Consolidated Financial Statement Schedule. Schedule II Valuation and Qualifying Accounts All other schedules are omitted because they are not applicable or the required information is shown in the Consolidated Financial Statements or notes thereto. 26 SIGNATURES Pursuant to the requirements of Section 13 or 15 (d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, the Registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized. VEECO INSTRUMENTS INC. By /s/ Edward H. Braun ------------------------------------- Edward H. Braun, Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, this report has been signed below by the following persons on behalf of the Registrant and in the capacities and on the dates indicated. Signature Title Date /s/ Edward H. Braun Chairman, Chief Executive, February 28, 1997 - ----------------------- Officer, President and Director Edward H. Braun (principal executive officer) /s/ John F. Rein, Jr. Vice President-Finance, Chief February 28 , 1997 - ----------------------- Financial Officer, Secretary John F. Rein, Jr. and Treasurer (principal financial officer) /s/ John P. Kiernan Corporate Controller February 28, 1997 - ----------------------- (principal accounting officer) John P. Kiernan /s/ Walter J. Scherr Director February 28, 1997 - ----------------------- Walter J. Scherr /s/ Richard A. D'Amore Director February 28, 1997 - ------------------------ Richard A. D'Amore /s/ Paul R. Low Director February 28, 1997 - ----------------------- Paul R. Low /s/ Joel A. Elftmann Director February 28, 1997 - ----------------------- Joel A. Elftmann 27 Form 10-K-Item 14(a)(1) and (2) Veeco Instruments Inc. and Subsidiaries Index to Consolidated Financial Statements and Financial Statement Schedule The following consolidated financial statements of Veeco Instruments Inc. and subsidiaries are included in Item 8: Consolidated Balance Sheets at December 31, 1996 and 1995.............F-3 Consolidated Statements of Income for the Years Ended December 31, 1996, 1995 and 1994..............................................F-4 Consolidated Statements of Shareholders' Equity for the Years Ended December 31, 1996, 1995 and 1994.................F-5 Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows for the Years Ended December 31, 1996, 1995 and 1994..............................................F-6 Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements............................F-7 The following consolidated financial statement schedule of Veeco Instruments Inc. and subsidiaries is included in Item 14(d): Schedule II - Valuation and Qualifying Accounts......................F-20 All other schedules for which provision is made in the applicable accounting regulation of the Securities and Exchange Commission are not required under the instructions or are inapplicable and therefore have been omitted. F-1 Report of Independent Auditors Shareholders and The Board of Directors Veeco Instruments Inc. We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of Veeco Instruments Inc. and subsidiaries as of December 31, 1996 and 1995 and the related consolidated statements of income, shareholders' equity and cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 1996. Our audits also included the financial statement schedule listed in the Index at Item 14(a). These financial statements and schedule are the responsibility of the Company's management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these financial statements and schedule based on our audits. We conducted our audits in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement. An audit includes examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. An audit also includes assessing the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall financial statement presentation. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion. In our opinion, the financial statements referred to above present fairly, in all material respects, the consolidated financial position of Veeco Instruments Inc. and subsidiaries at December 31, 1996 and 1995, and the consolidated results of their operations and their cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 1996 in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles. Also, in our opinion, the related financial statement schedule, when considered in relation to the basic financial statements taken as a whole, presents fairly in all material respects the information set forth therein. /s/ Ernst & Young Melville, New York February 7, 1997 F-2 Veeco Instruments Inc. and Subsidiaries Consolidated Balance Sheets (DOLLARS IN THOUSANDS) DECEMBER 31 1996 1995 ------------- -------------- ASSETS Current assets: Cash and cash equivalents $21,209 $17,568 Accounts and trade notes receivable, less allowance for doubtful accounts of $482 in 1996 and $517 in 1995 19,826 18,983 Inventories 21,263 15,795 Prepaid expenses and other current assets 858 923 Deferred income taxes 1,937 1,221 ------------- --------------- Total current assets 65,093 54,490 Property, plant and equipment at cost, net 9,761 7,381 Excess of cost over net assets acquired, less accumulated amortization of $910 in 1996 and $779 in 1995 4,448 4,579 Other assets--net 1,025 930 ------------- --------------- Total assets $80,327 $67,380 ------------- --------------- ------------- --------------- LIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY Current liabilities: Accounts payable $ 11,196 $ 8,729 Accrued expenses 9,964 7,523 Income taxes payable 479 777 ------------- --------------- Total current liabilities 21,639 17,029 Deferred income taxes 257 118 Other liabilities 461 482 Shareholders' equity: Common stock (9,500,000 shares authorized, 5,836,021 and 5,787,214 shares issued and outstanding at December 31, 1996 and 1995, respectively) 58 58 Additional paid-in capital 47,638 47,353 Retained earnings 9,609 1,571 Cumulative translation adjustment 665 769 ------------- --------------- Total shareholders' equity 57,970 49,751 ------------- --------------- Total liabilities and shareholders' equity $80,327 $67,380 ------------- --------------- ------------- --------------- SEE ACCOMPANYING NOTES. F-3 Veeco Instruments Inc. and Subsidiaries Consolidated Statements of Income (DOLLARS IN THOUSANDS, EXCEPT PER SHARE DATA) YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31 1996 1995 1994 ----------- ----------- ----------- Net sales $ 96,832 $72,359 $49,434 Cost of sales 54,931 39,274 28,940 ----------- ------------ ------------ Gross profit 41,901 33,085 20,494 Costs and expenses: Research and development expense 9,804 7,101 5,096 Selling, general and administrative expense 19,536 16,822 11,171 Amortization expense 236 202 344 Other--net 143 164 (100) ----------- ------------ ------------ 29,719 24,289 16,511 ----------- ------------ ------------ Operating income 12,182 8,796 3,983 Interest (income) expense--net (678) (391) 2,620 ----------- ------------ ------------ Income before income taxes and extraordinary item 12,860 9,187 1,363 Income tax provision (benefit) 4,822 2,395 (795) ----------- ------------ ------------ Income before extraordinary item 8,038 6,792 2,158 ----------- ------------ ------------ Extraordinary (loss) on prepayment of debt, net of $355 tax benefit - - (679) ----------- ------------ ------------ Net income $ 8,038 $ 6,792 $ 1,479 ----------- ------------ ------------ ----------- ------------ ------------ Earnings per share: Income before extraordinary item $ 1.36 $ 1.24 $ .87 Extraordinary (loss) - - (.27) ----------- ------------ ------------ Net income $ 1.36 $ 1.24 $ .60 ----------- ------------ ------------ ----------- ------------ ------------ Shares used in computing earnings per share 5,906 5,484 2,472 ----------- ------------ ------------ ----------- ------------ ------------ SEE ACCOMPANYING NOTES. F-4
Veeco Instruments Inc. and Subsidiaries Consolidated Statements of Shareholders' Equity (DOLLARS IN THOUSANDS) Preferred Treasury Common Stock Preferred Stocks Additional Retained Stock Cumulative ------------------ -------------------- Paid-in Earnings --------------- Translation Shares Amount Shares Amount Capital (Deficit) Shares Amount Adjustment Total --------- -------- --------- --------- ---------- --------- ------- ------- ----------- ------ Balance at December 31, 1993 1,846,154 $ 4,354 $ 316 $ (6,700) (85,128) $ (59) $ 408 $(1,681) Conversion of Preferred Stocks 1,761,026 $18 (1,846,154) (4,354) 4,277 85,128 59 - Exercise of outstanding warrants 337,449 3 112 115 Conversion of Series B Subordinated debt and accrued interest 313,878 3 3,450 3,453 Stock issued for prepayment penalty 36,364 1 399 400 Net proceeds from initial public offering 2,500,000 25 24,265 24,290 Translation adjustment 233 233 Net income 1,479 1,479 --------- -------- --------- --------- ---------- --------- ------- ------- ----------- ------ Balance at December 31, 1994 4,948,717 50 - - 32,819 (5,221) - - 641 28,289 Exercise of stock options 38,497 - 82 82 Net proceeds from public offering 800,000 8 14,452 14,460 Translation adjustment 128 128 Net income 6,792 6,792 --------- -------- --------- --------- ---------- --------- ------- ------- ----------- ------ Balance at December 31, 1995 5,787,214 58 - - 47,353 1,571 - - 769 49,751 Exercise of stock options and stock issuances under stock purchase plan 48,807 - 285 285 Translation adjustment (104) (104) Net income 8,038 8,038 --------- -------- --------- --------- ---------- --------- ------- ------- ----------- ------ Balance at December 31, 1996 5,836,021 $ 58 - $ - $ 47,638 $ 9,609 - $ - $ 665 $ 57,970 --------- -------- --------- --------- ---------- --------- ------- ------- ------- ------ --------- -------- --------- --------- ---------- --------- ------- ------- ------- ------
SEE ACCOMPANYING NOTES. F-5 Veeco Instruments Inc. and Subsidiaries Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows (DOLLARS IN THOUSANDS)
YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31 1996 1995 1994 ---------- --------- --------- OPERATING ACTIVITIES Net income $ 8,038 $ 6,792 $ 1,479 Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash provided by operating activities: Depreciation and amortization 1,599 1,200 1,425 Deferred income taxes (577) 147 (1,250) Loss on debt prepayment - - 1,034 Other 11 - (28) Changes in operating assets and liabilities: Accounts receivable (1,062) (6,072) (3,355) Inventories (5,560) (4,948) (2,071) Accounts payable 2,485 1,291 3,492 Accrued expenses and other current liabilities 2,460 2,984 (2) Income taxes payable (298) 686 92 Other--net 77 (100) (8) --------- -------- -------- Net cash provided by operating activities 7,173 1,980 808 INVESTING ACTIVITIES Capital expenditures (3,766) (965) (364) Patents (17) - (165) --------- -------- -------- Net cash used in investing activities (3,783) (965) (529) FINANCING ACTIVITIES Net proceeds from public stock offering - 14,460 24,290 Net repayments under revolving credit agreement - - (8,786) Long-term debt repayments - - (13,459) Deferred financing costs (195) (85) (201) Exercise of stock options and issuance of stock under stock purchase plan 285 82 - Other - (39) 9 --------- -------- -------- Net cash provided by financing activities 90 14,418 1,853 Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents 161 (144) (239) --------- -------- -------- Net increase in cash and cash equivalents 3,641 15,289 1,893 Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of year 17,568 2,279 386 --------- -------- -------- Cash and cash equivalents at end of year $ 21,209 $ 17,568 $ 2,279 --------- -------- -------- --------- -------- --------
SEE ACCOMPANYING NOTES. F-6 Veeco Instruments Inc. and Subsidiaries Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements December 31, 1996 1. SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES ORGANIZATION Veeco Instruments Inc. ("Veeco" or the "Company") designs, manufactures, markets and services a broad line of precision ion beam systems, surface metrology systems, and industrial measurement equipment used in the manufacture of microelectronic products. The company sells its products worldwide to many of the leading semiconductor and data storage manufacturers. In addition, the Company sells its products to companies in the flat panel display and high frequency device industries, as well as to other industries, research and development centers and universities. USE OF ESTIMATES The preparation of financial statements in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported in the financial statements and accompanying notes. Actual results could differ from those estimates. BASIS OF PRESENTATION The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of Veeco and its subsidiaries. Intercompany items and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation. REVENUE Revenue is recognized when title passes to the customer, generally upon shipment. Service and maintenance contract revenues are recorded as deferred income, which is included in other accrued expenses, and recognized as income on a straight-line basis over the service period of the related contract. The Company provides for (1) the estimated costs of fulfilling its installation obligations and (2) warranty costs at the time the related revenue is recorded. CASH FLOWS The Company considers all highly liquid investments with an original maturity of three months or less when purchased to be cash equivalents. Interest paid during 1996, 1995 and 1994 was approximately $70,000, $113,000 and, $2,661,000, respectively. Taxes paid in 1996 and 1995 were approximately $5,226,000 and $916,000, respectively. No significant tax payments were made in 1994. F-7 Veeco Instruments Inc. and Subsidiaries Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (continued) 1. SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES (CONTINUED) INVENTORIES Inventories are stated at the lower of cost (principally first-in, first-out method) or market. DEPRECIABLE ASSETS Depreciation and amortization are generally computed by the straight-line method and are charged against income over the estimated useful lives of depreciable assets. Amortization of equipment recorded under capital lease obligations is included in depreciation of property, plant and equipment. INTANGIBLE ASSETS Excess of cost of investment over net assets of business acquired is being amortized on a straight-line basis over 40 years. Other intangible assets, principally patents, software licenses and deferred finance costs, of $892,000 and $880,000 at December 31, 1996 and 1995, respectively, are net of accumulated amortization of $577,000 and $312,000. Other intangible assets are amortized over periods ranging from 3 to 17 years. FOREIGN OPERATIONS Foreign currency denominated assets and liabilities are translated into U.S. dollars at the exchange rates existing at the balance sheet date. Resulting translation adjustments due to fluctuations in the exchange rates are recorded as a separate component of shareholders' equity. Income and expense items are translated at the average exchange rates during the respective periods. ADVERTISING EXPENSE The cost of advertising is expensed as of the first showing. The Company incurred $1,819,000, $1,155,000 and $638,000 in advertising costs during 1996, 1995 and 1994, respectively. F-8 Veeco Instruments Inc. and Subsidiaries Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (continued) 1. SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES (CONTINUED) STOCK BASED COMPENSATION At December 31, 1996, the Company has three stock-based compensation plans, which are described in Note 5 to the consolidated financial statements. The Company has elected to continue to follow Accounting Principles Board Opinion No. 25, "Accounting for Stock Issued to Employees" (APB 25) and related Interpretations in accounting for its stock-based compensation plans. Under APB 25, because the exercise price of the Company's employee stock options granted equals the market price of the underlying stock on the date of grant, no compensation expense is recognized. RECLASSIFICATIONS Certain amounts in the 1994 and 1995 financial statements have been reclassified to conform with the 1996 presentation. EARNINGS PER SHARE Earnings per share is computed using the weighted average number of common and common equivalent shares outstanding during the year. The Company completed an initial public offering (the "IPO") on December 6, 1994, pursuant to which 2,500,000 shares of Common Stock, par value $.01 per share (the "Common Stock") were issued and sold at $11 per share. As a consequence of the IPO and pursuant to the requirements of the Securities and Exchange Commission, stock issued by the Company during the twelve months immediately preceding the IPO, plus the number of equivalent shares issuable pursuant to the grant of options during the same period, have been included in the number of shares used in the calculation of earnings per share for 1994 as if they were outstanding (using the treasury stock method and the IPO price). In addition, the calculation of the shares used in computing earnings per share for 1994 also includes the outstanding convertible preferred stock which automatically converted into 1,761,026 shares of Common Stock upon the closing of the IPO as if they were converted to Common Stock on the respective original dates of issuance. F-9 Veeco Instruments Inc. and Subsidiaries Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (continued) 2. BALANCE SHEET INFORMATION DECEMBER 31 1996 1995 ------------------------------- Inventories: Raw materials $ 9,546,000 $ 4,349,000 Work in process 4,909,000 4,222,000 Finished goods 6,808,000 7,224,000 ------------------------------- $ 21,263,000 $ 15,795,000 ------------------------------- ------------------------------- DECEMBER 31 ESTIMATED 1996 1995 USEFUL LIVES ------------------------------------------- Property, plant and equipment: Land $ 1,400,000 $ 1,400,000 Buildings and improvements 4,965,000 4,776,000 30 years Machinery and equipment 9,749,000 6,376,000 3-10 years Leasehold improvements 150,000 147,000 3-10 years ------------------------------- 16,264,000 12,699,000 Less accumulated depreciation and amortization 6,503,000 5,318,000 ------------------------------- $ 9,761,000 $ 7,381,000 ------------------------------- ------------------------------- DECEMBER 31 1996 1995 ------------------------------- Accrued expenses: Deferred service contract revenue $ 401,000 $ 670,000 Customer deposits and advance billings 3,540,000 1,842,000 Payroll and related benefits 1,836,000 2,046,000 Other 4,187,000 2,965,000 ------------------------------- $ 9,964,000 $7,523,000 ------------------------------- ------------------------------- F-10 Veeco Instruments Inc. and Subsidiaries Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (continued) 3. FINANCING ARRANGEMENTS In July 1996, the Company entered into a new credit facility ("the Credit Facility") with Fleet Bank, N.A. and The Chase Manhattan Bank. The Credit Facility, which is to be used for working capital, acquisitions and general corporate purposes provides the Company with up to $30 million of availability. The Credit Facility bears interest at the prime rate of the lending banks, but is adjustable to a maximum rate of 3/4% above the prime rate in the event the Company's ratio of debt to cash flow exceeds a defined ratio. A LIBOR based interest rate option is also provided. The Credit Facility expires July 31, 1999, but under certain conditions is convertible into a term loan, which would amortize quarterly through July 31, 2002. The Credit Facility is secured by substantially all of the Company's personal property as well as the stock of its subsidiary Sloan Technology Corporation. The Credit Facility also contains certain restrictive covenants, which among other things, impose limitations with respect to incurrence of certain additional indebtedness, incurrence of liens, payments of dividends, long-term leases, investments, mergers, consolidations and specified sales of assets. The Company is also required to satisfy certain financial tests including maintaining specified consolidated tangible net worth and maintaining certain interest coverage and capitalization ratios. As of December 31, 1996 and 1995, no borrowings were outstanding under the Company's credit facilities. Letters of credit of approximately $931,000 and $1,900,000 were outstanding at December 31, 1996 and 1995, respectively, reducing the Company's availability under its credit facilities. 4. SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY The Company completed the IPO on December 6, 1994, whereby 2,500,000 shares of Common Stock, par value $.01 per share (the "Common Stock") were issued and sold at $11 per share. The net proceeds were used to prepay debt in the amount of $23,700,000 and for working capital and other general corporate purposes . The prepayment of the Company's debt and the conversion of the Senior Subordinated Series B Notes into Common Stock in December 1994, resulted in an extraordinary charge of $679,000, net of $355,000 of income tax benefit. The extraordinary charge is principally F-11 Veeco Instruments Inc. and Subsidiaries Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (continued) 4. SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY (CONTINUED) comprised of a prepayment penalty and the writeoff of unamortized deferred finance costs. On July 31, 1995, the Company completed a public offering (the "Public Offering") in which 2,300,000 shares of Common Stock were sold, 800,000 of which were sold by the Company and 1,500,000 of which were sold by certain selling stockholders, at the public offering price of $20 per share. As of December 31, 1996, the Company has reserved 805,959 and 233,524 shares of common stock for issuance upon exercise of stock options and issuance of shares pursuant to the Stock Purchase Plan, respectively. 5. STOCK COMPENSATION PLANS Pro forma information regarding net income and earnings per share is required by FASB Statement No. 123, "Accounting for Stock-Based Compensation" which requires that the information be determined as if the Company has accounted for its stock options granted subsequent to December 31, 1994 under the fair value method of that Statement. The fair value for these options, was estimated at the date of grant using a Black-Scholes option pricing model. The Company's pro forma information follows: DECEMBER 31 1996 1995 ---------------------------- Pro forma net income $ 7,540,000 $ 6,444,000 Pro forma earnings per share $ 1.30 $ 1.20 Because Statement 123 is applicable only to options granted subsequent to December 31, 1994 and employee stock options granted vest over a three year period, its effect will not be fully reflected in pro forma net income until 1997. F-12 Veeco Instruments Inc. and Subsidiaries Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (continued) 5. STOCK COMPENSATION PLANS (CONTINUED) FIXED OPTION PLANS The Company has two fixed option plans. The Veeco Instruments Inc. Amended and Restated 1992 Employees' Stock Option Plan (the "Stock Option Plan") provides for the grant to officers and key employees of up to 826,787 options (264,245 options available for future grants as of December 31, 1996) to purchase share of Common Stock of the Company. Stock options granted pursuant to the Stock Option Plan become exercisable over a three-year period following the grant date and expire after ten years. The Veeco Instruments Inc. 1994 Stock Option Plan for Outside Directors (as amended, the "Directors' Option Plan") provides for the automatic grants of stock options to each member of the Board of Directors of the Company who is not an employee of the Company. The Directors' Option Plan provides for the grant of up to 50,000 options (20,003 options available for future grants as of December 31, 1996) to purchase shares of Common Stock of the Company. Such options granted are exercisable immediately and expire after ten years. The fair values of these options at the date of grant was estimated with the following weighted-average assumptions for 1996 and 1995: risk-free interest rate of 6.3%, no dividend yield, volatility factor of the expected market price of the Company's common stock of 50% and a weighted-average expected life of the option of four years. A summary of the status of the Company's two fixed stock option plans as of December 31, 1994, 1995 and 1996, and changes during the years ending on those dates is presented below:
1994 1995 1996 ------------------------- ------------------------- ------------------------ OPTION OPTION WEIGHTED- SHARES PRICE SHARES PRICE SHARES AVERAGE (000) PER SHARE (000) PER SHARE (000) EXERCISE PRICE ------ ------------------ ------ ----------------- ---------- -------------- Outstanding at beginning of year 124 $ .69 to $ 3.00 175 $ .69 to $11.00 441 $ 11.10 Granted 56 4.50 to 11.00 314 9.50 to 22.75 175 13.68 Exercised - - (38) .69 to 4.50 (32) 2.68 Forfeited (5) .69 to 4.50 (10) .69 to 13.38 (62) 19.14 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Outstanding at end of year 175 $ .69 to 11.00 441 $ .69 to 22.75 522 $ 11.50 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Options exercisable at year-end 91 $ .69 to $ 4.50 104 $ .69 to $13.38 188 $ 8.74 Weighted-average fair value of options granted during the year $ 6.62 $ 6.24
F-13 Veeco Instruments Inc. and Subsidiaries Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (continued) 5. STOCK COMPENSATION PLANS (CONTINUED) The following table summarizes information about fixed stock options outstanding at December 31, 1996:
OPTIONS OUTSTANDING OPTIONS EXERCISABLE ------------------------------------------------ --------------------------- NUMBER NUMBER RANGE OF OUTSTANDING WEIGHTED-AVERAGE WEIGHTED- OUTSTANDING WEIGHTED- EXERCISE AT DECEMBER REMAINING AVERAGE AT DECEMBER AVERAGE PRICE 31, 1996 CONTRACTUAL LIFE EXERCISE PRICE 31, 1996 EXERCISE PRICE - ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (000) (000) $ .69 to $ 5.00 101 7.2 years $ 3.46 88 $ 3.32 5.01 to 10.00 24 8.0 9.50 8 9.50 10.00 to 15.00 387 8.9 13.45 82 12.99 15.00 to 21.50 10 8.5 21.32 10 21.50 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- $ .69 to $21.50 522 8.5 $ 11.50 188 $ 8.74 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
EMPLOYEE STOCK PURCHASE PLAN Under the Veeco Instruments Inc. Employees Stock Purchase Plan (the "Plan"), the Company is authorized to issue up to 250,000 shares of Common Stock to its full-time domestic employees, nearly all of whom are eligible to participate. Under the terms of the Plan, employees can choose each year to have up to 6% of their annual base earnings withheld to purchase the Company's Common Stock. The purchase price of the stock is 85% of the lower of its beginning-of-year or end-of-year market price. Under the Plan, the Company granted 14,278 shares and 16,476 shares to employees in 1996 and 1995, respectively. The fair value of the employees' purchase rights were estimated using the following assumptions for 1996 and 1995, respectively: no dividend yield for both years; an expected life of one year and six months; expected volatility of 70% and 64%; and risk-free interest rates of 5.2% and 5.7% The weighted-average fair value of those purchase rights granted in 1996 and 1995 was $5.20 and $4.40 respectively. F-14 Veeco Instruments Inc. and Subsidiaries Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (continued) 6. INCOME TAXES Deferred income taxes reflect the net tax effects of temporary differences between the carrying amounts of assets and liabilities for financial reporting purposes and the amounts used for income tax purposes. Significant components of the Company's deferred tax liabilities and assets as of December 31, 1996 and 1995 are as follows: DECEMBER 31 1996 1995 -------------------------- Deferred tax liabilities: Tax over book depreciation $ 257,000 $ 118,000 -------------------------- Total deferred tax liabilities 257,000 118,000 --------------------------- Deferred tax assets: Inventory valuation 1,620,000 1,122,000 Foreign net operating loss carryforwards 795,000 1,276,000 Research tax credit carryforward - 277,000 Other 317,000 459,000 --------------------------- Total deferred tax assets 2,732,000 3,134,000 Valuation allowance (795,000) (1,913,000) --------------------------- Net deferred tax assets 1,937,000 1,221,000 --------------------------- Net deferred taxes $1,680,000 $ 1,103,000 --------------------------- --------------------------- For financial reporting purposes, income before income taxes and extraordinary item includes the following components: YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31 1996 1995 1994 ---------------------------------------------- Domestic $13,157,000 $8,926,000 $2,064,000 Foreign (297,000) 261,000 (701,000) ---------------------------------------------- $12,860,000 $9,187,000 $1,363,000 ---------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------- F-15 Veeco Instruments Inc. and Subsidiaries Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (continued) 6. INCOME TAXES (CONTINUED) Significant components of the provision (benefit) for income taxes for income before extraordinary item are presented below. YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31 1996 1995 1994 -------------------------------------------- Current: Federal $4,712,000 $3,226,000 $ 1,067,000 Foreign 129,000 379,000 217,000 State 835,000 260,000 180,000 Utilization of research tax credits (277,000) (909,000) - Utilization of net operating losses - (708,000) (1,294,000) -------------------------------------------- 5,399,000 2,248,000 170,000 Deferred: Federal (525,000) 335,000 (965,000) Foreign - (90,000) - State (52,000) (98,000) - -------------------------------------------- (577,000) 147,000 (965,000) -------------------------------------------- $4,822,000 $2,395,000 $ (795,000) -------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------- The reconciliation of income taxes attributable to income before extraordinary item computed at U.S. federal statutory rates to income tax expense is: YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31 1996 1995 1994 -------------------------------------------- Tax at U.S. statutory rates $ 4,501,000 $ 3,123,000 $ 463,000 State income taxes (net of federal benefit) 334,000 74,000 119,000 Goodwill amortization 46,000 44,000 44,000 Nondeductible expenses 39,000 42,000 31,000 Recognition of previously unrecognized deferred tax assets, net - (314,000) (639,000) Operating losses not currently realizable 225,000 212,000 456,000 Operating losses currently realizable - (708,000) (1,294,000) Other (323,000) (78,000) 25,000 -------------------------------------------- $ 4,822,000 $ 2,395,000 $ (795,000) -------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------- F-16 Veeco Instruments Inc. and Subsidiaries Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (continued) 6. INCOME TAXES (CONTINUED) Several of the Company's foreign subsidiaries have net operating loss carryforwards for foreign tax purposes of approximately $2.0 million at December 31, 1996, a portion of which expires in years 1997 through 2001 and a portion for which the carryforward period is unlimited. 7. COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES AND OTHER MATTERS The Company has an agreement with IBM pursuant to which the Company is IBM's exclusive worldwide sales and marketing representative for the SXM Workstation to the semiconductor and data storage industries. Under this agreement, the Company has agreed to purchase a minimum number of SXM Workstations by July 1997. At December 31, 1996 such purchase commitment amounted to approximately $2.25 million. IBM has the right to discontinue production at any time upon written notice to the Company, in which event IBM has agreed to grant to the Company an exclusive worldwide license to manufacture the SXM Workstation for sale to the semiconductor and data storage industries pursuant to a royalty and license agreement to be negotiated at such time. Minimum lease commitments as of December 31, 1996 for property and equipment under operating lease agreements (exclusive of renewal options) are payable as follows: 1997 $ 737,000 1998 489,000 1999 223,000 2000 98,000 2001 36,000 Thereafter 98,000 ------------- $1,681,000 ------------- ------------- Rent charged to operations amounted to $870,000, $772,000 and $825,000 in 1996, 1995 and 1994, respectively. In addition, the Company is obligated under the leases for certain other expenses, including real estate taxes and insurance. F-17 Veeco Instruments Inc. and Subsidiaries Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (continued) 7. COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES AND OTHER MATTERS (CONTINUED) The Company's business depends in large part upon the capital expenditures of data storage, semiconductor and flat panel display manufacturers which accounted for the following percentages of the Company's net sales: DECEMBER 31 1996 1995 1994 ------------------------------- Data storage 55.5% 40.2% 38.1% Semiconductor 27.4 36.4 33.2 Flat panel display 3.8 6.1 7.3 The Company cannot predict whether the growth experienced in the microelectronics industry in the recent past will continue. Sales to one customer accounted for approximately 17%, 9% and 2% and sales to another customer accounted for approximately 16%, 23% and 27% of the Company's net sales during the years ended December 31, 1996, 1995 and 1994, respectively. The Company manufactures and sells its products to companies in different geographic locations. The Company performs periodic credit evaluations of its customers' financial condition, generally does not require collateral, and where appropriate, requires that letters of credit be provided on foreign sales. Receivables generally are due within 30 days. The Company's accounts receivable are concentrated in the following geographic locations: DECEMBER 31 1996 1995 ------------------------------- United States $10,699,000 $ 10,892,000 Europe 3,161,000 5,008,000 Far East 5,729,000 3,069,000 Other 237,000 14,000 ------------------------------- $19,826,000 $18,983,000 ------------------------------- ------------------------------- F-18 Veeco Instruments Inc. and Subsidiaries Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (continued) 8. FOREIGN OPERATIONS AND GEOGRAPHIC AREA INFORMATION Information as to the Company's foreign operations and geographic area information (assets not specifically identified to Europe and the Far East are included in the United States) is summarized below:
NET SALES UNAFFILIATED CUSTOMERS OPERATING INCOME Total Assets ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1996 1995 1994 1996 1995 1994 1996 1995 1994 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (IN THOUSANDS) United States $92,063 $66,826 $45,713 $12,613 $8,670 $4,702 $72,589 $58,051 $32,518 Europe 11,214 11,863 7,297 (69) 651 (541) 6,953 8,790 7,563 Far East 915 913 681 (231) (394) (15) 785 539 850 Eliminations (7,360) (7,243) (4,257) (131) (131) (163) - - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- $96,832 $72,359 $49,434 $12,182 $8,796 $3,983 $80,327 $67,380 $40,931 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Export sales from the Company's United States operations are as follows: 1996 1995 1994 ----------------------------------- (IN THOUSANDS) Far East $33,666 $22,847 $15,455 Europe 566 544 1,802 Other 749 564 556 ----------------------------------- $34,981 $23,955 $17,813 ----------------------------------- ----------------------------------- The aggregate foreign exchange gains and (losses) included in determining consolidated results of operations were $(153,000), $100,000 and $185,000 in 1996, 1995 and 1994, respectively. F-19
Veeco Instruments Inc. and Subsidiaries Schedule II--Valuation and Qualifying Accounts COL. A COL. B COL. C COL. D COL. E ADDITIONS BALANCE AT CHARGED TO CHARGED TO BALANCE AT BEGINNING OF COSTS AND OTHER END OF DESCRIPTION PERIOD EXPENSES ACCOUNTS DEDUCTIONS PERIOD - ----------- ------------ ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- Deducted from asset accounts: Year ended December 31, 1996 Allowance for doubtful accounts $ 517,000 $ 14,000 $ - $ 49,000 $ 482,000 Valuation allowance on net deferred tax assets 1,913,000 - - 1,118,000 795,000 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- $ 2,430,000 $ 14,000 $ - $ 1,167,000 $ 1,277,000 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Deducted from asset accounts: Year ended December 31, 1995: Allowance for doubtful accounts $ 383,000 $ 147,000 $ - $ 13,000 $ 517,000 Valuation allowance on net deferred tax assets 2,858,000 - - 945,000 1,913,000 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- $ 3,241,000 $ 147,000 $ - $ 958,000 $ 2,430,000 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Deducted from asset accounts: Year ended December 31, 1994: Allowance for doubtful accounts $ 385,000 $ 54,000 $ - $ 56,000 $ 383,000 Valuation allowance on net deferred tax assets 4,294,000 - - 1,436,000 2,858,000 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- $ 4,679,000 $ 54,000 $ - $ 1,492,000 $ 3,241,000 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------
F-20 INDEX TO EXHIBITS Exhibit Number Exhibit 3.1 Form of Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation of the Company. (1) 3.2 Form of Amended and Restated By-Laws of the Company. (1) 4.1 Form of Certificate for Common Stock. (1) 10.1 Lease, dated July 29, 1991 between Sloan Technology Corporation, a California corporation and Sloan Technology Corporation, a Delaware corporation. (1) 10.2 OEM Agreement for Acquisition of IBM Products, dated July 20, 1993 by and between IBM and the Company. (2) 10.3 Modification to OEM Agreement for Acquisition of IBM Products, dated July 20, 1993, by and between IBM and the Company. (2) 10.4 UPA Technology Division, Veeco Instruments Inc. and Roentgenanalytik Messtechnik GmbH XRF Development Program Agreement, dated December 8, 1992, between Veeco-UPA Technology Division and Roentgenanalytik Messtechnik GmbH. (2) 10.5 Distributor Agreement, dated as of December 15, 1974 between Sloan Technology Corporation and ULVAC Corporation. (2) 10.6 Amendment to Distributor Agreement, dated March 11, 1993, by and between Sloan Technology Corporation and ULVAC Japan, Ltd.(2) 10.7 Exclusive Sales Agreement, dated as of July 1, 1993, between Seiko Instruments and the Company. (2) 10.8 Exclusive Sales Agreement, dated as of July 1, 1993, between the Company and Seiko Instruments. (2) 10.9 Distributor Agreement, dated March 5, 1993, between the Company and Seiko Instruments.(2) 10.11 Letter Agreement, dated November 22, 1993 between the Company and John F. Rein, Jr. (1) 10.12 First Amendment and Restatement of Stock Option Agreement dated as of October 13, 1994 between the Company and John F. Rein, Jr. (1) 10.13 Agreement dated as of February 7, 1994, effective as of December 31, 1993, between the Company and Robert Oates, together with Amendment No. 1 hereto dated as of October 13, 1994. (1) 10.15 Veeco Instruments Inc. 1994 Stock Option Plan for Outside Directors. (1) 10.19 Letter Agreement dated, January 16, 1995 between the Company and John Kiernan. (3) 10.20 Amended and Restated Veeco Instruments Inc. Employees' Stock Option Plan. (4) 10.21 Veeco Instruments Inc. Employees Stock Purchase Plan. (4) 10.22 OEM Agreement for acquisition of IBM products, dated October 12, 1995, between International Business Machines Corporation and Veeco Instruments Inc. (5) 10.24 Lease dated July 1, 1993 and Lease renewal dated February 26, 1996 between Lambda (Santa Barbara) Inc., a California Corporation and Veeco Instruments Inc., a Delaware Corporation. (6) Exhibit Number Exhibit 10.25 Credit Agreement dated July 31, 1996 among the Registrant, Fleet Bank N.A. and The Chase Manhattan Bank. (7) 10.26 Security Agreement dated July 31, 1996 among the Registrant, Fleet Bank N.A. and The Chase Manhattan Bank. (7) 10.27 Guarantee Agreement dated July 31, 1996 among the Registrant, Fleet Bank N.A. and The Chase Manhattan Bank. (7) 10.28 Guarantor's Security Agreement dated July 31, 1996 among Sloan Technology Corporation, Fleet Bank N.A. and The Chase Manhattan Bank. (7) 10.29 The Pledge Agreement dated July 31, 1996 among the Registrant, Fleet Bank N.A. and The Chase Manhattan Bank. (7) 10.30 The Patent and Trademark Security Agreement dated July 31, 1996 among the Registrant, Fleet Bank N.A. and The Chase Manhattan Bank. (7) 21.1 Subsidiaries of the Registrant. (1) 23.1 Consent of Ernst & Young LLP. * 27 Financial Data Schedule of Veeco Instruments Inc. for the year ended December 31, 1996. * *Filed herewith. (1) Previously filed as an Exhibit to the Registrant's Registration Statement on Form S-1 (Registration No. 33-85184) and incorporated herein by reference. (2) Previously filed as an Exhibit to the Registrant's Registration Statement on Form S-1 (Registration No. 33-85184) and incorporated herein by reference; confidential treatment granted. (3) Previously filed as an Exhibit to the Registrant's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 1994 and incorporated herein by reference. (4) Previously filed as an Exhibit to the Registrant's Registration Statement on Form S-1(Registration No. 33-93958) and incorporated herein by reference. (5) Previously filed as an Exhibit to the Registrant's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 1995 and incorporated herein by reference; confidential treatment granted. (6) Previously filed as an Exhibit to the Registrant's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 1996 and incorporated herein by reference. (7) Previously filed as an Exhibit to the Registrant's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 19961997 and incorporated herein by reference. (9) Incorporated by reference from the Registrant's Current Report on Form 8-K dated July 2, 1997. (10) Incorporated by reference from the Registrant's Current Report on Form 8-K dated March 9, 1998. 3