ASML Doesn't Expect Financial Hit From China Export-License Issue

   By Adria Calatayud 
 

ASML Holding NV (ASML.AE) doesn't expect a financial hit from an issue with a license to export an advanced chip-making system to China, Chief Executive and President Peter Wennink said Wednesday.

Mr. Wennink said the license application is currently being reviewed by the Dutch government, which has requested additional information from the company, and acknowledged that the issue has been surrounded by political tension.

The Dutch maker of semiconductor equipment received an order from an undisclosed Chinese customer in 2018 for an extreme ultraviolet--or EUV--lithography system, ASML's most advanced technology, Mr. Wennink said. Since EUV is included in a list of restricted technologies, the company needs a license from the Dutch government to export the machine, he said.

ASML has an umbrella license to export EUV systems but has to apply for a specific permit for each order as part of a two-layered process, Mr. Wennink said. He said the company hasn't experienced any issues in getting licenses to ship EUV machines to South Korea, the U.S. or Taiwan.

Mr. Wennink said ASML is now waiting for the Dutch government to decide on the matter, but that the issue will have no impact on the company's financial performance, as it would ship the machine to a customer from another country if it can't export it to China.

"When [a machine] doesn't go to country A, it goes to country B or country C," Mr. Wennink said at a press conference. "If the demand is there, the demand will be there across the globe," he said.

Write to Adria Calatayud at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 22, 2020 06:37 ET (11:37 GMT)

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