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Tokyo Electron Ltd (TEL)., maker of semiconductor equipment has reported its third consecutive quarterly loss; a symptom of the global economic climate which has forced the company into closing three domestic bases.

The company made the decision to close these bases as the recession began to take hold, realizing that in order to make a recovery in the future, it would need to take a step back and close buildings that it saw would not be needed in terms of company advancement.

Since closing these three facilities, TEL has been recording unusual or infrequent financial loss; the company's net loss was recorded as 11 billion yen ($116 million) in the three months ended June 30, in comparison to the 12.9 billion yen profit for the same period of 2008; Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. has projected a deficit of 18 billion yen.

"Although the market is improving month by month, it's still negative growth year-on-year," said Haruo Sato, an analyst at Tokai Securities Co. in Tokyo, "It's probably a recovery of what's been lost and isn't backed up by actual demand for capital investment," he explained.

Tokyo Electron has calculated a full-year net loss unchanged from previous predictions at 38 billion yen, while raising its sales projection by 6% to 318 billion yen and narrowing its operating-loss forecast by 9.5% to 57 billion yen.

Sales at the unit that produces equipment to make semiconductors are likely to fall 44% to 181 billion yen this fiscal year, and revenue from flat-panel-display-making products will decline 32% to 60 billion yen.

The first-quarter operating loss, or sales minus the cost of goods sold and administrative expenses, was 14.4 billion yen, compared with 21.4 billion yen profit for the previous year, as sales slumped 56% to 68.9 billion yen, the company said. Mitsubishi UFJ expected a 28 billion yen deficit on 70 billion yen in revenue.

In the semiconductor-related market, capital investment by semiconductor manufacturers remains slow-moving due to the current economic recession, yet there are growing signs of a bottoming out, as evidenced by the recovery of semiconductor prices and the rising operating rate for production equipment.

Under these circumstances, sales for the semiconductor production equipment segment during the consolidated second quarter are expected to be larger than previously predicted.