Dutch chip equipment maker ASML said on Wednesday orders recovered from a first-quarter slump but the company warned full-year sales could fall more than previously expected due to economic weakness.

ASML, the world's largest maker of semiconductor lithography machines, said it had received orders for 33 systems worth 632 million euros ($1 billion) in the second quarter. A Reuters poll of 13 analysts showed an average expectation of 32 systems valued at 578 million euros.

The company reported a quarterly net profit of 192 million euros, exceeding analysts' expectations of 112 million euros.

But ASML said full-year sales could fall as much as 20 percent from 2007, compared with an earlier expectation of a 10 percent drop, if chip makers were to delay investment in extra capacity as global economic growth weakens.

"We're in a downturn; that's no news ... We have become a bit more cautious on the remainder of the year, especially when we look at our customers -- many of our customers are still in a loss-making situation," Chief Financial Officer Peter Wennink said.

"The euro is strengthening, the macro-economic climate has deteriorated, so if customers were to decide to only buy the leading-edge tools and no capacity tools, then it could be at around 20 percent (2008 sales decline)."

ASML said it expected to ship 37 systems with an average selling price of 15.6 million euros in the third quarter and forecast its gross margin to dip to about 38 percent from 40 percent in the second quarter.

Source:reuters