News

15 January 2010

 

Riber returned to profit in 2009, despite revenue drop; expects growth in 2010

Riber S.A. of Bezons, France, which manufactures molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) systems as well as evaporation sources and effusion cells, has reported sales of €7.8m in fourth-quarter 2009, boosting full-year sales to €17.3m (down 10% on 2008’s €19.2m). First-half sales had been just €5.9m. Of full-year 2009’s sales, 45% came from Europe, 41% from Asia, and 14% from North America.

Partly offsetting the lack of production system sales in the context of the economic crisis (compared to €5.2m for production systems in 2008), sales of research machines reached a record €10.1m (up 26% on 2008’s €8.1m). In particular, 14 MBE systems were dedicated to research centers (up from 13 in 2008), including 10 sold in second-half 2009.

The components and services division also continued to expand, yielding record sales of €4.8m (up 30% on 2008’s €3.7m). This was driven in particular by the integration of VG Semicon's business (acquired from Oxford Instruments Plasma Technology in late September 2008).

Sales of cells and evaporation sources rose 6% from 2008’s €2.3m to €2.4m, proving resilient to the economic crisis due to new markets. These included cells for organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs), which achieved sales of €1m in 2009.

Despite the drop in overall revenue, Riber has also confirmed its guidance for a return to net profitability for 2009, combined with an improved cash position.

Riber says that, due to the significant progress made during the last year (product diversification, the development of after-sales activities, higher productivity and product quality, and better cost control), the firm has a sound base that should enable it to grow in 2010.

Full 2009 results will be released on 25 March.

See related items:

Riber builds business in China

Riber’s first-half sales up 14% on a year ago, driven by research reactors

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