11 April 2012

Riber’s Q1 revenues up 8% year-on-year, driven by system sales

For first-quarter 2012, 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 €6.2m, down 41% on €10.5m last quarter but up 8% on €5.7m a year ago.

Business is benefiting from the development of system sales, with three research MBE machines and one production MBE machine invoiced during first-quarter 2012 yielding revenue of €4.6m, more than doubling from the €2.1m from just two research MBE machines sold a year ago.

Revenue from evaporation sources and cells was €0.6m, down 76% on €2.6m a year ago, which included the delivery of a major order for organic LED (OLED) production cells. Revenue from services and accessories showed a positive trend, up 1% on €1m a year ago.

During Q1/2012, Riber booked four MBE system orders for research laboratories in Belgium, Argentina, Russia and the USA. At the end of March, the order book amounted to €19.5m, down 8% on €21.3m a year ago. However, this is due to orders falling from €5m to €0.1m for evaporation sources and cells and from €2.3m to €1.5m for services and accessories. In contrast, the order backlog for systems rose 28% from €14m to €17.9m, with 13 research systems to be delivered in 2012 and 2013 in addition to one production machine.

Riber says that the contraction in the order book for cells and sources factors in the delivery of a major investment order during the last 12 months for OLED production equipment. Meanwhile, the firm is focusing on preparing a new-generation range of cells with a view to the next wave of investments.

Nevertheless, the commercial action plan rolled out since the start of 2012 is expected to pave the way for growth in sales over the year. Riber will release its revenue forecast for 2012 at the end of first-half 2012.

See related items:

Riber’s revenue grows 40% to €29m in 2011

Riber reports 142% revenue growth for first three quarters of 2011

Riber triples first-half revenue year-on-year to €13m

Riber’s Q1 revenue doubles year-on-year

Riber reports 2010 revenue up 20% to €20.7m

Tags: Riber MBE

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