Decline in semiconductor market demand hurts Inficon sales

Inficon Holding AG reported sales of 70.0 million USD for the third quarter 2012, a decline both compared with the previous quarter (-7.3%) as well as the same period of last year (-10.7%). Negative foreign exchange effects impacted sales by 5.1 percentage points while acquisitions positively contributed 2.4 percentage points. Adjusted for these effects, sales declined organically by 8.0%, reflecting primarily a bigger than expected decline in the demand from the semiconductor market. Inficon recorded an operating profit of 11.0 million USD, resulting in an improved margin of 15.8% after 15.1% recorded a year ago. The net profit for the period of 8.2 million USD equals 11.7% of sales. The company said it was cautious about the future development of sales, but expects further earnings improvement. The company curtailed the upper end of the expected sales span for the full year 2012 from 290-310 million to now 290-300 million. At the same time, Inficon raised the lower end of the now more precisely defined earning forecast range of 45-50 million (before 42 to 54 million).