Melexis continues structural growth

Gross margin was 30.1 million EUR, an increase of 15% compared to the same quarter last year and an increase of 3% versus the previous quarter. The operating result was 15.1 million EUR, compared to 13.0 million EUR in the same quarter of 2011 and 13.9 million EUR in the previous quarter. Net income was 12.3 million EUR, 30 cent per share, up from 25 cent per share in the third quarter of 2011 and up from 29 cent per share in the previous quarter. R&D expenses were 15% of sales, Selling remains stable at 3% of sales and G&A was at 5% of sales. Françoise Chombar, CEO of Melexis comments: "The slight slowing we see in the ordering behavior for Q4 seems to indicate that our customers are preparing already now for avoiding a year end excess inventory as their outlook is dampened by the current economic uncertainties, especially in Western Europe. Melexis growth path for 2013 is, however, favorably influenced by new product introductions, the vast majority of which were launched this year or last. Melexis' innovative power which contributes to the green economy continues to gain traction and should amply compensate a more moderate growth of the rest of the product mix. Hence it equally fuels our company's long-term structural growth." Outlook Melexis expects sales in the fourth quarter of 2012 to decrease slightly compared with the previous quarter. For FY 2013, Melexis expects to achieve mid to high single digit growth in sales, taking into account a EUR/USD exchange rate of 1.30.