ASML etches 2016 ‘remarkable’ profit

VELDHOVEN: ASML, the Dutch maker of machines used to etch computer processors and make memory chips, announced on Wednesday a record 6.1 per cent jump in full-year net profit. Netprofit rose to 1.47 billion euros ($1.57 billion) and sales climbed more than 8.0 per cent year-on-year to 6.79 billion euros, ASML said in a statement. It “has been a remarkable year for ASML on many fronts,” chief executive Peter Wennink said from the high-tech company’s headquarters in Veldhoven, in southern Netherlands. “We have delivered a record financial performance,” Wennink said. ASML is considered a bellwether of the global high-tech industry as it supplies manufacturing giants such as Samsung and Intel. — AFP