INFICON Announces Second Quarter 2005 Results

SYRACUSE, N.Y. & ZURICH, Switzerland--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 20, 2005--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 second quarter ended June 30, 2005.

Revenues for the second quarter of 2005 were $48.0 million, compared to $49.8 million for the second quarter of 2004, representing a 3.6% decrease. On a constant dollar basis, revenues for the quarter decreased 6.0%. The company reported net income of $3.3 million, or $1.39 per diluted share, compared to $4.1 million, or $1.75 per diluted share, in the second quarter of 2004.

Revenues for the six months ended June 30, 2005 were $98.1 million compared to $97.1 million for the same period in 2004, representing a 1.0 % increase. On a constant dollar basis, revenues decreased 1.9%. Net income for the period was $7.2 million, or $3.07 per diluted share, compared to net income of $7.6 million, or $3.26 per diluted share, last year.

Lukas Winkler, president and chief executive officer, commented, "Although the environment was more challenging than expected, which impacted sales for the quarter, our net income was in line with our guidance. In the semiconductor and vacuum coating markets, we experienced increased demand in Asia, with orders from Taiwan, Japan and Korea for advanced process control software and sensors. However, this increase was offset by significantly lower demand in the data storage market. In the refrigeration and air conditioning markets, sales were close to last year's high level, as we benefited from strong seasonal demand for service tools in both the U.S. and Europe. Despite increased orders from Europe and Asia, the performance of our Environmental Health & Safety ("EH&S") products, which target emergency response and security markets worldwide, was slightly below that of last year's second quarter due to lower sales to U.S. government agencies. In the general vacuum processes market, we experienced moderate growth in all geographic areas, with especially good order intake for leak detectors.

"We continue to emphasize strategies that foster profitable growth for INFICON. For the third quarter of 2005, we expect revenues to be improved over the third quarter of 2004 due to higher shipments in our EH&S product line. On a sequential basis, we expect results to be lower than 2Q05, reflecting the normal seasonal buying patterns in certain product markets and geographic areas. Based on our existing pipeline of opportunities and the current environment in our industries, we expect to generate sales of approximately $47.0 million for the third quarter of 2005, compared to $43.7 million in sales for the third quarter of 2004. For the third quarter of 2005, we expect net income of approximately $2.7 million, or $1.15 per diluted share."

As of June 30, 2005, the company had $57.6 million in cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments, having generated $3.5 million from operations during the first six months of the year.

Conference Call Information

INFICON will hold a conference call to discuss its second quarter 2005 results on Wednesday, July 20, 2005 at 04:00 p.m. CET /10:00 a.m. ET. To access the conference call, please dial +1.706.634.1033 at least 10 minutes prior to the call. A live webcast of the conference call will also be available in the Investor Relations section of the INFICON website, www.inficon.com.

A telephone replay of the call will be available from 7:00 p.m. CET/1:00 p.m. ET on July 20 through 5:59 a.m. July 28 CET/11:59 p.m. ET on July 27. To access the replay, please dial +1.800.642.1687 (international callers dial +1.706.645.9291), conference ID number 7308001. An archived replay of the conference webcast also will be available on 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. For more information about INFICON and its products, please visit the Company's website at 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 on Form 20-F for fiscal 2004 and the Company's reports on Form 6-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission during 2004 and 2005. 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.