BESI's quarterly conference call and audio webcast to discuss the company's 2015 fourth quarter and annual results. The audio webcast is available on www.besi.com. Joining us today are Mr. Richard Blickman, Chief Executive Officer, and Mr. Cor te Hennepe, Senior Vice President, Finance. At this time, all participants are in listen-only mode. Later, we will conduct a question and answer session, and instruction will follow at that time. As a reminder, ladies and gentlemen, this conference is being recorded and cannot be reproduced in whole or in part without written permission from the company. We would like now to hand over the call to Mr. Richard Blickman. Go ahead, please, sir.
Thank you. Thank you all for joining us today. I will begin by making a few comments in connection with the press release we issued earlier today. Then we'll take your questions. I would like to remind everyone that some of the comments made during this call and some of the answers in response to your questions by management may contain forward-looking statements. Such statements may involve uncertainties and risks as described in the earnings release and other reports filed with the AFM. For today's call, we'd like to review the key highlights of our fourth quarter and year ended December 31st, 2015, and also spend some time updating you on the market, operating initiatives, and the outlook. First, some overall thoughts on the year and the past quarter. In 2015, BESI maintained solid profitability despite a difficult industry environment.
We generated revenue and profit of EUR 349.2 million and EUR 49 million, respectively, with high gross and net margins for our industry sector of 48.8% and 14%, respectively. BESI ended the year in a strong financial position with total cash of EUR 157.8 million, or EUR 4.10 per share, which represented 22.1% of our year-end stock price. Revenue in 2015 decreased by 7.8% versus 2014 due to a sharp industry downturn starting in the third quarter, combined with weakening economic conditions in China, which particularly affected order levels for smartphone applications. However, increased revenue from BESI's new TCB and die sorting systems helped counteract unfavorable industry conditions and brought better balance to our product application mix. Other areas of product strength included next-generation singulation and trim and form systems and plating systems for solar and 3D lithium battery applications.
Strong profit and margin levels were realized due to the successful execution of ongoing Asian supply chain and production initiatives, a further reduction of European-based cost, and timely restructuring actions taken during the year in response to both adverse industry and currency movements. Our fourth quarter 2015 financial performance was solid as operating profit exceeded guidance in an uncertain semiconductor environment. Revenue was up by 7.9% sequentially as growth in a number of diverse product lines and applications partially offset some lingering weakness in specific smartphone applications. Gross margins reached, for the first time, 50% due to material cost efficiencies and foreign exchange benefits. In addition, operating expenses continued their quarterly sequential decline from a second quarter last year peak as a result of BESI's headcount reduction program and European overhead reduction initiatives.
Excluding deferred tax adjustments, Q4 2015 net income was strong at EUR 10.9 million, up EUR 4.6 million versus the third quarter. Operating initiatives were implemented in 2015 to reduce cost levels so that we could more profitably manage through the recent downturn. In the fourth quarter, we reduced headcount by 5.5% versus the third quarter and decreased sequential baseline operating expenses as we had guided. Gross margins were above guidance and at the high end of our corporate target range of 45%-50%. As a result, we had healthy adjusted net margins of 14% in the fourth quarter and 13.4% for the year, despite a less favorable market environment. Given strong cash flow generation, our year-end cash balances, and near-term liquidity needs, we propose to pay a cash dividend of EUR 1.20 per share for the year 2015.
The total consists of a EUR 1 base dividend and EUR 0.20 special dividend and represents our sixth consecutive annual contribution to shareholders. The 2015 payout ratio is 94%, of which the base dividend represents an approximately 80% rate, a level equal to 2014 and at the high end of our dividend policy range. At a year-end stock price of EUR 18.56, the proposed dividend yields 6.5%. In addition, we bought back 225,779 shares through year-end and 407,831 shares cumulatively through February 23, 2016. In total, we've allocated EUR 60.9 million and EUR 118.2 million in 2015 and the past five years respectively to dividends and share repurchases, underlining BESI's commitment to enhance shareholder value. With that, I'll turn the presentation over to Cor te Hennepe, our Senior Vice President of Finance. Cor.
Thank you, Richard. BESI Q4 2015 revenue was up by 7.9% versus Q3 2015 and was at the high end of our guidance range. The increase was primarily due to higher demand for epoxy die attach and die sorting systems for smartphone and high-end server applications and increased plating shipments for solar applications. Revenue declined by 12.6% versus Q4 2014, primarily as a result of lower demand for smartphone and mainstream electronics applications post the large 2014 industry capacity build. Orders increased by 3.2% versus Q3 2015, due primarily to renewed growth by Asian subcontractors for die attach and molding systems used in smartphone, mobile, and automotive applications. Orders decreased by 5% versus Q4 2014 due to lower demand by European and U.S. IDMs amidst less favorable market conditions.
Per customer type, sequential subcontractor orders increased strongly by EUR 13.8 million or 73.8%, while IDM orders decreased by EUR 11.4 million or 20%. BESI revenue and orders decreased by 7.8% and 14.5% respectively in 2015 versus 2014, due primarily to the industry downturn and lower demand for smartphone applications. Orders by IDMs and subcontractors represented approximately 60% and 40% respectively of BESI's total orders in both 2015 and 2014. Given the globalization of our business in recent years, Forex movements have become more important. As you can see on the next chart, the euro is becoming less prominent as a transactional currency for us. About 65%-70% of our revenue is denominated in U.S. dollars, which has been relatively consistent.
On the cost side, as we move more and more production personnel and supply chain to Asia, the Malaysian ringgit, Chinese renminbi, and Singapore dollar will represent an increasingly larger percentage of our production costs and operating expenses in future years. BESI's gross margin in Q4 increased by 1.3 percentage points versus Q3 2015 and by 6.2 percentage points versus Q4 2014, despite market headwinds. The increase primarily reflected material and labor cost efficiencies from the continued movement of personnel and supply chain costs from higher-cost European markets to lower-cost Asian markets, combined with net foreign exchange benefits. Similarly, gross margins improved by 5 percentage points to 48.8% for the full year 2015. From a Forex perspective, sequential margin growth in Q4 2015 was favorably influenced by a stronger dollar versus the euro on the revenue side and a weaker ringgit and Swiss franc versus the euro on the cost side.
For the year, we benefited from a stronger dollar versus the euro on the revenue side, which was partially offset by a significant increase in the Swiss franc versus the euro on the cost side. Q4 2015 operating expenses trends continued the favorable development we had anticipated in Q2. As shown on this next chart, BESI baseline OpEx, excluding the impact of variable factors such as currency, R&D capitalization and amortization, and incentive compensation decreased from a peak of EUR 26.1 million in Q2 2015 to EUR 22.6 million in Q4 2015, very consistent with 2014 quarterly levels of EUR 21 million to EUR 23 million. On an aggregate basis, OpEx is following a similar pattern, declining from a peak of EUR 32 million in Q2 2015 to EUR 26.5 million in Q4 2015.
Much of the second half 2015 improvement is from our headcount reduction program, as well as a reduction of new product R&D spending from peak levels in the first half of the year. Headcount is one of BESI's largest operating costs. In 2015, we reduced aggregate headcount by 5.7% versus 2014 and European headcount by 8.8%. Since 2011, BESI has reduced high-cost European and North American fixed headcount by 20% and its percentage of total fixed headcount from 48%-37%, consistent with our Asian production and supply chain transfer. We anticipate further declines as we fully realize our corporate vision of European centers of technological excellence and Asian centers of production and supply chain expertise.
BESI's net income increased by EUR 3.4 million versus Q3 2015, primarily as a result of our revenue increase, improved gross margins, and lower operating expenses, partially offset by a higher effective tax rate caused by a deferred tax revaluation at our Swiss operations. BESI's effective tax rate was 20.6% on a reported basis and 10.7% on an adjusted basis in Q4 2015, versus 13.3% in Q3 2015. For the year, the effective tax rate on an adjusted basis was 12.9% versus 11.8% in 2014. We expect our effective tax rate to range between 10%-15% in 2016, absent any additional deferred tax revaluation adjustments. We significantly improved our cash position in 2015, even with almost EUR 61 million spent on dividends and share repurchases. As compared to year-end 2014, BESI's net cash position of EUR 136.5 million increased by EUR 18.5 million, or 15.7%.
In addition to strong profit levels, cash flow generation also benefited this year from improved inventory management throughout the organization. With that, I'll turn the presentation back over to Richard.
Now, I'd like to spend a couple of moments updating you on the market and our strategic priorities. The latest VLSI Research forecast estimates that the assembly equipment market contracted by about 14% in 2015 to EUR 3.4 billion after a very strong 2014. The current 2016 estimate looks for a further decline of 3.9%. Although this is a significant improvement from their initial forecast of a decrease of 10%, as market sentiment improved during the fourth quarter. VLSI Research expects a large rebound in 2017 and 2018, with the market growing by almost 25%. We had a good year on the development front in 2015 with a number of key new product introductions. Perhaps the largest contribution was from TCB systems, where we have developed the fastest, most compact, and most reliable machine on the market with the highest throughput potential.
We have an installed base of 35 systems in production, which confirms our leadership position. In addition, we developed and received orders for four next-generation wafer-level bonders from a large Asian subcontractor with industry-leading sub-five micron accuracy for high-production environments. We also developed a flip chip system with sub-five micron accuracy and refreshed our die bonding and packaging portfolio with new models that are both faster and more accurate than the competition. Further, we successfully developed with a large U.S. IDM, new die sorting and lid attach systems to help package high-end microprocessors and receive the substantial amount of follow-on orders. Finally, we received important orders from leading solar producers and Asian research institutes in the second half of the year for newly developed solar plating lines, as well as an initial order in the fourth quarter for a new 3D lithium-ion battery plating line.
We will continue work in 2016 to further advance our R&D capabilities in all of these promising areas. We executed a number of operating initiatives in 2015, which aided profitability. First, we implemented a 10% headcount reduction program during the year in response to both adverse currency and market conditions, which will be completed in the first quarter of this year and is expected to generate EUR 12 million-EUR 14 million of annualized savings. Second, we commenced production of certain die bonding product lines in China, specifically tailored for the local market, which were previously made in Malaysia. We plan to manufacture additional lines in China this year, which will both increase our addressable market and aggregate production capacity. Third, we completed the transfer of certain die bonding functions from Switzerland to Singapore by year-end, which will greatly reduce structural cost and reduce our exposure to the Swiss franc.
Fourth, plating production was fully transferred from the Netherlands to our factory in Malaysia with the objective of improving gross margins to the mid-40s range, as well as capturing more Asian business. Fifth, BESI initiated the transfer of remaining die sorting production from our factory in Austria to Malaysia, which should be accomplished at the end of this year. Finally, we estimate that we have successfully transferred by year-end, approximately 75% of our supply chain purchases from European to Asian vendors, which has benefited gross margin development. As you can see, we continue to explore a number of options to reduce structural cost in our business model and see additional opportunities for margin improvements in the years ahead. A couple of words about our guidance for the first quarter of this year. Leading industry analysts currently suggest a modest industry downturn of approximately 4% in 2016.
We believe that the trough of the most recent down cycle was reached in the fourth quarter last year, and are cautiously optimistic for 2016 based on a better than anticipated fourth quarter revenue level and favorable order trends through February of this year. However, visibility remains very limited in a highly uncertain global economic environment. BESI's first quarter 2016 guidance calls for revenue that is expected to be within a range of +5% to -5% versus the fourth quarter levels. Sequential operating profit will decrease slightly due to somewhat lower gross margin based on our anticipated first quarter 2016 product mix and Forex movements and higher operating expenses from BESI's share-based incentive compensation plan. Absent increases in the share-based compensation expense, operating expenses are estimated to be flat sequentially.
Longer-term, a new technology cycle has begun, wherein customers increasingly demand below 20-nanometer device geometries for which new advanced packaging equipment and solutions will be required. Higher sales of advanced packaging systems are forecast to serve growing areas such as smartphones, automotive electronics, cloud computing, data mining, wearable devices, and of course, the Internet of Things. Such trends play to our strength as a technological leader and offer new opportunities for revenue and market share growth. In addition, we continue initiatives to generate even more profit and cash flow from our business model in 2016 and the years to come. That ends my prepared remarks. I would like to open the call now for some questions. Operator.
Yes. Ladies and gentlemen, we will start the question and answer session now. To be registered for the question and answer queue, please press star one. For any questions or remarks, star one. Go ahead, please. The first question is coming from Mr. Philip Scholte, Kempen & Co. Go ahead, please, sir.
Hi. Yes, good afternoon, everybody. I have a question regarding your market shares. I understand it's pretty early in the year to provide the famous slide with the market shares per segment. Maybe there is a way you can comment on your early thoughts about the market share of your relevant segments. The second question is on the FX effect on your gross margins. In historical presentations, you gave us a number for that. Is there a way, Cor, you can help us with that?
Okay. Let me first respond to the market share. If you look at the overall decline of revenue of 7%, roughly, and if you look at the total market, expected decline of about 14%, if we look at revenue reported by companies in our sector, overall, we have not lost any market share, rather, we should have gained some market share. What's more important, if you look a level deeper, where have we been more successful? That is in particular the new technologies. If you look at TCB, if you look at EWLB, the fan-out, that is the highest end of the world in the high-end flip chip. Also in the 12-inch epoxy die bonding world, in the ultra-thin packaging, singulation has gained significant share last year. As you said yourself, the final numbers are not yet known.
From our own analysis, we have certainly had a good portion of that market. For us, as you know very well, it's far more important where is the profitable part of the market. Market share in a world of technology is only relevant if that brings you to stronger profitability. In other words, return on the development investments we do over the years in new emerging technologies. That is particularly interesting if you look at the development of Besi, where we can achieve a 50% gross margin in probably the bottom quarter of this cycle. We look more at profitability than that we look at overall market share percentages. On your second question, the Forex effect, yes, we have some formulas, but as you know, we are impacted as a EUR company, first of all, by the U.S. dollar as the main currency for industry.
We have the CHF, which is an important part of our especially development of epoxy and soft solder. We have the Asian currencies, especially the ringgit, where most of our production today is taking place. To a lesser extent, the Chinese renminbi for the other part of our production in Asia. We have done some calculation efforts that an increase in a U.S. dollar versus the EUR had an impact of about every $0.01, at 0.5% influence on the margin. Today, that ratio is a bit different. Also because of other currency moves vis-à-vis the EUR. We, in general, look at about a 50% impact in both directions. An increase of the margin or a U.S. dollar by 10% should have a margin impact of 5%. It also has an effect on the industry as a whole.
A stronger U.S. dollar is usually an indicator of a stronger momentum in the industry because it is driven by the overall U.S. economy. Less favorable development in the U.S. economy has a significant impact on the growth of the semiconductor equipment needs. There are many more factors to then just simply have an impact of an oil price.
Okay, thanks very much. Maybe a short follow-up. When do you have the new market share data?
Usually, it's published around April, because then all companies have reported. Some have different calendar years. Historically, via the SEMI, in April, publishes the overall market shares.
Well, Japanese companies have a year that ends at April 1st usually, so that's why it takes a while before all numbers are known.
Right. Okay. Cool. Thank you very much.
The next question is from Mr. Hans Slob, Rabobank. Go ahead, please, sir.
Yes, good afternoon. A question on your solar activities. Could you indicate how much solar represented of your 2015 sales, and what do you expect for 2016? Second question is on the, let's say, the business with your Asian subcontractors and especially the smartphone segment. What have you seen following the Chinese New Year? Do you already see things improving or are things still a little bit slow?
Okay, the first, solar is still below 5% of our overall revenue. However, if you understand the application we are currently successful in, it is a process which replaces the silver grid on solar cells by copper plating. The industry has started to develop this alternative since about five years, and we have developed that with major companies in the solar world, around the world. With three full production systems currently partly installed and one still to be installed, this could ignite a significant breakthrough in the years to come. For 2015 and 2016, it's still below the 5% of BESI overall revenue. Your next question on the ordering after Chinese New Year. Yes, as usually after the Chinese New Year, the next round of investments, both in technology and capacity in particular, has developed.
Because of that, also, via the SEMI, last week has turned its expectation or its market climate indication from cold to a bit more warm. The tide is turning somewhat. It's still early days. We are not yet at the end of February.
Okay. Thank you.
Next question is from Mr. Nigel van Putten, ING. Go ahead, please, sir.
Hi. Good afternoon. I have a follow-up on the end market. First on mobile. Similarly to the solar question just asked, could you give an indication of the % of revenues that went into the mobile market in 2015? Then I guess I'll do the follow-up immediately. More generally on the technology investment you expect for 2016. Do you expect or do you have indications that the new introduction or the introduction of new smartphones will result in positive order momentum in 2016?
Yes. 2015, the overall mobile, the percentage of revenue is at around 20%. Which is significantly lower than 2014. 2016, we expect similar levels, maybe somewhat lower. We can already foresee that in 2017, there will be a major investment round because the technology used in the models for 2017 looks like they will be more different than the models in 2016 versus 2015. You can read a lot of publications about what is happening on that front in processors at TSMC, but also others, but also with other components in those smartphones. 2016 may be a similar level to 2015, and in preparation for a rollout of a more significant generation change in 2017. Around 20% of our revenue in total.
Okay, thanks. It's very useful. I guess, more broadly, because you seem to be diversifying the revenue base a lot more in 2015. With mobile flat, could you perhaps give indications of where you see particular growth or relative strength this year and maybe also weakness?
Well, automotive is off on a good start. There's a lot of additional electronics in automotive, also hybrids and electrical, et cetera. We see major investments in the next generation cloud servers-
with very strong growth expected in that area, in particular in 2017 and 2018. Yeah, those are the three cornerstones of our business involvement, apart from medical and solar and other applications of semiconductor devices. That is roughly the picture.
Okay, thanks. That's very clear. Last one on stacked memory. I think some other companies have commented that they expect that market to also ramp, particularly into 2017. You obviously have a bit of a different position as you already have equipment in high volume manufacturing. Two questions on that. Do you agree with that timeline, that 2017 should be the year that stacked memory ramps? Also, how do you think 2016 will compare to what seems to be a very strong 2015?
That picture is a picture we very well recognize. I think we also in the last quarter update guided in a similar way. It is still early days. The stacked memory on top of logic are very expensive, high-end modules. They have huge benefits in terms of all kinds of performance criteria. We have positioned our product at the most, in volume, successful product at this point in time. Whether that will get wings is still to be seen, because it's a very expensive, high-end product application. We are always a bit careful and conservative in this industry. In our experience so far, these developments don't take off overnight. It takes a long time for it to become real mainstream. The forecast is, as you mentioned, it's expected that 2017 and 2018 will be significant growth. We'll see. We'll be very happy.
All right, thanks. Maybe on the 2016 versus 2015?
Similar to 2015, probably a bit more broader. Subcontractors probably will set up the first lines, so the move from IDMs to certain subcons. Still in a qualification, low-volume initial phase.
All right. Thank you very much.
There are no further questions at the moment, sir.
Okay. Well, then, I thank everyone very much for taking the time. If there are any further questions,
Sorry
don't hesitate to contact us.
Sorry, Mr. Blickman. There is an additional question coming in.
Excellent.
You want to answer that? Okay, Mr. Philip Scholte, Kempen, go ahead, sir.
Yeah, in that case, I have a follow-up. On your R&D spending it already went up a bit in 2015. Can you give some guidance on where that should go in 2016? I have another question on your order trend. You mentioned a favorable order trend through February. How should we read the word favorable? Is that compared to last year? Is it sequentially? Can you maybe, well, try to quantify that a bit more or say something more about that?
Yeah. You see, R&D spending is roughly the same. No big changes. Focused on all of our products. They are all driven by our key customers, R&D spend in your models should be the same. The order trend is related to the fourth quarter, a sequential trend. That is the most helpful. It is what it states. We see a favorable development. If this continues, it is compared to Q4.
Yeah, exactly. That's flattish.
Well, it doesn't have to be flattish. It can also be higher.
Yeah, sure. Right.
It's not negative.
No, exactly.
Positive.
I get the point. If I may, another question on your gross margin. You are now at 50% and in the analyst day of last year, you said you were targeting the 45%-50%. Do you still believe there is further upside potential to that margin, or is this actually, I understand it benefited from mix and a bit from FX. What's your view on that?
Let me repeat again, the key reasons for margin development. Number one is the product position. If your product is unique and significantly outperforming competitor choices for customers, your pricing power is the best. Secondly, cost. Everything in the world, every day becomes more expensive in general. With moving operations to Asia, more experience in Asia, supply chain move to Asia, also qualifying lower cost suppliers, better suppliers, is a constant move both to up the margin and by product position and lowering your cost. On top of that, you have influences of Forex. Yes, they have been favorable at some point in the past two years, but that doesn't influence our overall strategy. There's a third element, very important, is the common parts, common platform strategy.
More and more, we are able to develop systems using same hardware and software components, and that reduces structurally the cost of our systems. That picture in total, and it's also in our presentation, we are still far from perfect. We are still years behind an ASM Pacific, Kulicke & Soffa. Our Asian operations, I would not say infancy phase, but we are just above the infancy phase. There's a lot more savings, cost reductions to be achieved. If we maintain a very strong leading product position, further cost reduction should kick in and should even potentially bring higher margins than what we have achieved so far. That's the total picture.
All right. Thank you.
The next question is Mr. Edwin de Jong, SNS. Go ahead, please.
Good afternoon, gentlemen. Some questions from my side left on TCB, for instance. How many clients do you now have in high volume manufacturing? Could you maybe share some details on how many systems are in the order book? Also on the fan-out wafer level packaging machine, are you still the only one who is in high volume manufacturing, or is competition entering? Maybe some color on the competitive environment there. Also, the number of systems in the order book, please. The last question is on dividends and payouts. You still have a large cash position and net cash position, EUR 136.5 million. Would you consider extra share buybacks or special dividends if this position maintains this level? How do you look at paying back shareholders?
Okay. Well, I'll try to answer question one and two, and Cor number 3. TCB still to date, there is one customer producing in decent volumes. Other customers are developing and testing. In EWLB, the picture is a bit different. Since already 2007, we have at six different customers fan-out systems installed. Recently there are increased activities on certain logic processor, which may be produced in an EWLB solution. Still higher cost than.
Yeah
higher cost than a flip chip substrate solution. The verdict is still out whether that becomes a real volume or not. We are involved in anyone in that forefront in both. Again, in low volume.
Both of these machines are around EUR 1 million, right?
They're about EUR 800,000, EUR 900,000 per machine. It's very important because in the competitive landscape, systems are available which cost significantly more, 50%-100% more, but have half the throughput of our machines. We are in a very strong competitive position at this moment. On the dividend, Cor.
Basically, we are at year-end at EUR 36 million net cash. In our model, we say we need EUR 60 million to EUR 80 million, depending a bit on revenue level, net cash as a healthy buffer in order to run our business even when times get very rough. If you look at the dividend, EUR 1.20, which is 94% of net profit, means that around EUR 47 million of dividends will go out. You end up at EUR 89 million. Still above the EUR 60 million to EUR 80 million. We also still have our share buyback running. If you look where we are at year-end compared to what we've indicated, that means another EUR 10 million around share repurchase, and you're back compared to year-end levels at around EUR 80 million. If you look at the guidance for Q1 and further, you can be assured that this is the model we keep.
We will remain our net cash at a level of EUR 60 million to EUR 80 million, unless revenue will be significantly higher. If the cash flow allows it, we will look again at our cash in this model. EUR 60 million to EUR 80 million buffer. What is our dividend? How does that compare to the dividend policy? Can we do something additional or not? That depends then on the cash flow of the moment. If there is a significant surplus, we could again consider share buyback. Those are the metrics that we are looking at basically on a quarterly basis, you could say.
Thank you. Maybe on the number of TCB machines and wafer level packaging machines in the order book. Is there any number on that?
No, we don't publish individual numbers, but that's what I can say. Ongoing orders.
Thank you.
Next question is from Mr. Nigel van Putten, ING. Go ahead, please, sir.
Hi again. Yeah, just have one follow-up on the order book. Momentum seems to be building, but still from a relatively, I guess, lower level in the fourth quarter or first quarter as we're still kind of early days in the recovery. My question would be, do you expect strength to continue, perhaps into the second half? If you compare the first half to the second half, would it make sense at least to believe that those could be similar or perhaps even stronger into the second half?
Well, again, this industry is highly volatile, cyclical, however you want to call it. If you look at the two independent analysts in this world, VLSI Research and Gartner, yeah, the expectation is that that should happen in that way. Some of us have been a bit longer in this industry. That may also change. It depends very much on economic developments, the big picture. If we leave that aside, yeah, the model today is a transition year 2016 from a slow recovery to a next growth cycle. That's how the world looks like. We are ready for that in both ways. If it comes, we can benefit enormously. If it delays, we have cost structures under control, further cost reductions in progress. That's how we look at it.
We're involved in the right technologies, also in the right mainstream segments today, that's as good as it gets.
Right. Because the ramp is stronger into 2017, you expect less of a sort of typical seasonality where the first half will be stronger. I mean, 2016 could be a sort of equal year, first half, second half, or perhaps even stronger in second half.
We have seen these developments in the past, where we had typical, the first half stronger, second half tail off. We also have had it the other way around. A slow first half and a strong second half into a strong first half next year. Those have been patterns in previous cycles.
Very clear. Thanks a lot.
Thank you.
Next question from Mr. Hans Slob, Rabobank. Go ahead, please.
Yes, a follow-up question on your cost base. If I remember correctly, you have a EUR 12 million-EUR 14 million total cost savings plan. My question is, how much of this has been effectuated in 2015, and how much additional cost savings should we expect in 2016?
Close to EUR 10 million has been achieved from the programs initiated in 2015, completed in 2015. Another, from those programs, EUR 2 million-EUR 4 million to be realized in the first six months. We have additional programs in place, as we mentioned, the move of certain products from Austria to Malaysia. Also other savings and moves in Asia, which should support another EUR 4 million-EUR 6 million savings on a comparable basis. Less savings this year compared to last year, but all fitting into the same philosophy.
Okay. Very clear. Thanks.
Gentlemen, this was the last question.
Thank you all very much. Once again, any further questions, don't hesitate to contact us. Thank you all for your time. Bye-bye.
This concludes the BESI conference call. Thank you for attending, and you may disconnect your line now.