INFICON Announces Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2005 Results

INFICON Announces Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2005 Results; Successful Drive to Improve Profitability Boosts Fourth Quarter EPS to $2.19; INFICON Plans Par Value Repayment of CHF 5.00 Per Share

SYRACUSE, N.Y. & ZURICH, Switzerland--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 14, 2006--INFICON (SWX Swiss Exchange: IFCN), a leading manufacturer of instrumentation and process control software for the semiconductor and vacuum-coating industries and other industrial applications, today announced financial results for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2005.

Revenues for the fourth quarter of 2005 were $47.7 million, compared to $47.3 million for the fourth quarter of 2004, representing a 0.9% increase. On a constant dollar basis, revenues for the quarter increased 6.6%. The company reported net income of $5.2 million, or $2.19 per diluted share, compared to $1.8 million, or $0.75 per diluted share, in the fourth quarter of 2004.

Revenues for the full year ended December 31, 2005 were $191.3 million compared to $188.1 million for 2004, representing a 1.7% increase. On a constant dollar basis, revenues increased 1.7%. Net income for the period was $15.5 million, or $6.64 per diluted share, compared to net income of $9.4 million, or $4.04 per diluted share, for 2004, which included a $2.0 million loss from discontinued operations.

Lukas Winkler, president and chief executive officer, commented, "We are pleased with our fourth-quarter performance, which clearly demonstrates the success of our efforts to substantially improve the company's profitability. Several factors contributed to this improvement, including an improved gross profit margin due to a favorable sales mix, improved operational leverage from cost-savings initiatives we have implemented, and from reprioritizing certain R&D projects.

"The company's sales for the quarter met our expectations. In the semiconductor and vacuum coating market, sales decreased from last year. This was driven by significantly lower sales to optical data storage and flat panel display equipment customers and lower demand from semiconductor customers in Asia. However, demand for our advanced process control software from U.S. chip makers was strong. In the refrigeration and air conditioning market, we experienced a solid increase, reflecting the success of two products introduced in 2005 - the Protec P3000 helium leak detector and the Ecotec E3000 multi-gas leak detector. Both set new standards for productivity and reliability in demanding production environments.

"Sales to environmental health and security customers rose sharply from last year's fourth quarter due primarily to increased demand from customers outside the U.S. In the general vacuum processes market, demand was solid, reflecting favorable market conditions primarily in Asia.

"For 2006, we continue to expect annual sales growth of 5 -10%, as we announced in October 2005. By maintaining our strong focus on improving the company's operational leverage, we expect to achieve an operating margin of approximately 12% for the year. We believe this focus, combined with our commitment to technology leadership, positions INFICON for additional profitable growth. For example, in December we introduced a new series of capacitance diaphragm gauges with digital electronics. The new design offers longer life and increased uptime on semiconductor manufacturing equipment."

The INFICON Board of Directors intends to recommend a par value repayment of CHF 5.00 per share at the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders on May 4, 2006. As a result, the par value of INFICON shares will be reduced from CHF 10.00 to CHF 5.00. This distribution will be in addition to the planned dividend of CHF 5.00 per share for the business year 2005, as previously announced.

Media-Analyst Conference

The company will hold a joint Media-Analyst conference in Zurich on February 14, 2006 at 9:00 a.m. CET to discuss its financial results and outlook. The conference, which will take place at the Marriott Hotel Zurich, Neumuhlequai 42, will be recorded and an archived version will be posted with accompanying visuals in the Investor Relations section of the INFICON website, http://www.inficon.com, later in the day.

Email Alerts: The latest financial information from INFICON can automatically be sent via Email Alert; sign up is available in the Investor Relations section of the INFICON website.

ABOUT INFICON
INFICON is a leading developer, manufacturer and supplier of innovative instrumentation, critical sensor technologies, and advanced process control software for the semiconductor and vacuum-coating industries and other industrial applications. These analysis, measurement and control products are vital to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and end-users in the complex manufacturing of semiconductors, flat panel displays, magnetic and optical storage media and precision optics. INFICON also provides essential instrumentation for gas leak detection to the air conditioning/refrigeration industries and toxic chemical analysis for the emergency response and security markets. Headquartered in Syracuse, New York, INFICON has world-class manufacturing facilities in the United States and Europe and worldwide offices in the U.S., China, France, Germany, Japan, Korea, Liechtenstein, Singapore, Switzerland, Taiwan, and the United Kingdom. INFICON is a publicly listed company, registered with the Swiss Stock Exchange (SWX). For more information about INFICON and its products, please visit www.inficon.com.

This press release and oral statements or other written statements made, or to be made, by us contain forward-looking statements that do not relate solely to historical or current facts. Forward looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "may", "believe", "will", "expect", "project", "assume", "estimate", "anticipate", "plan", "continue", "resumes", "opportunity," "potential", "outlook", "forecast" or "guidance." These forward-looking statements address, among other things, our strategic objectives, trends in vacuum technology and in the industries that employ vacuum instrumentation, such as the semiconductor and related industries and the anticipated effects of these trends on our business. These forward-looking statements are based on the current plans and expectations of our management and are subject to a number of uncertainties and risks that could significantly affect our current plans and expectations, as well as future results of operations and financial condition. Some of these risks and uncertainties are discussed in the Company's Annual Report for fiscal 2004. As a consequence, our current and anticipated plans and our future prospects, results of operations and financial condition may differ from those expressed in any forward-looking statements made by or on behalf of our company. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.