Summary Net profits were up to 249 million euros ($344 million) from 96 million euros a year earlier.
THE HAGUE (AFP) - Dutch computer chip maker and global hi-tech bellwether ASML slashed its forcecasts despite almost doubling profits in the first quarter.
Net profits were up to 249 million euros ($344 million) from 96 million euros a year earlier, largely thanks to sales that were up 57 percent to 1.4 billion euros.
The company which supplies global hi-tech giants such as Samsung and Intel nevertheless cut its forecast for the first half of 2014, after some customers put orders for processor makers for "next-generation devices" on hold.
The unnamed customers want to complete development of their new chips before buying more chip-manufacturing machines, an ASML spokesman told AFP.
ASML had said it expected first-half sales to reach three billion euros excluding sales of Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) systems for making next-generation processors.
But on Wednesday the company said it had cut its first-half forecast to three billion euros including EUV system sales.
ASML is one of the world s leading makers of lithography systems used by the semiconductor industry to make integrated circuits and microchips
The company, which employs over 13,000 people and operates in 16 countries, is considered a good indicator of conditions in the microprocessing industry.
