14 January 2011

Riber reports 2010 revenue up 20% to €20.7m

Riber S.A. of Bezons, France, which manufactures molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) systems as well as evaporation sources and effusion cells, has reported revenue of €13.1m for fourth-quarter 2010, more than quadrupling from Q3’s €3.2m and up 68% on €7.8m a year ago.

This takes full-year 2010 revenue to €20.7m, up 20% on 2009’s €17.3m. Europe contributed 56% of revenue (of which In particular, MBE system sales rose 10% from 2009’s €10.1m to €11.1m for full-year 2010, reflecting the good level of sales to research centers and the upturn in demand from industrial firms for compound semiconductors. A total of 10 MBE systems were delivered in 2010, including two production systems.

Services & accessories revenue continued to grow strongly, up 38% from 2009’s €4.7m to a record €6.5m. Also, revenue for evaporation sources and cells rose by 24%, from €2.5m to €3.1m, vindicating the strategy of diversifying into high-growth markets such as organic LEDs (OLEDs) and thin-layer photovoltaics (CIGS).

Riber says that it has good order visibility for 2011. The backlog totals €17.3m (6.9 times higher than the €2.5m at the end of 2009). This includes 10 MBE systems (three production reactors and seven research reactors) — one deliverable after 2011. This amounts to a systems order book of €13.3m (up from just €1m a year ago). Services & accessories backlog is €1.8m (up 38% from €1.3m). Backlog for evaporation sources and cells is €2.2m (up from just €0.2m). Also, the reported order backlog does not include a major OLED effusion cell contract signed at the start of January 2011 for several million euros.

Riber concludes that its commercial development illustrates the relevance of its business strategy, based on:

• continuing to strengthen Riber’s market leadership in MBE research and production systems;
• capitalizing on the installed base and growing sales of epitaxy equipment (effusion cells, etc), spare parts and accessories, as well as corresponding services; and
• launching a range of high-value-added equipment and services for high-growth applications (thin-film solar panels, OLED lighting and flat screens, etc).

Riber will report full-year 2010 earnings on 24 March. However, the firm can already confirm its forecast for earnings growth for 2010 over 2009.

See related items:

Riber’s revenue bounces back by 11% in Q3/2010

Riber expects strong H2/2010 to compensate for first half

Riber reports Q1 revenue up 11% year-on-year

Tags: Riber MBE

Visit: www.riber.com