INFICON Off to a Good Start into 2012

Sales clearly up versus preceding quarter to USD 80.7 million; stable development versus Q1 2011
Operating income of USD 14.5 million or 18.0% of sales
Slightly higher sales and profit expectations for full fiscal year 2012

Bad Ragaz/Switzerland, April 19, 2012.

Quarterly Sales Strong at USD 80.7 Million
INFICON Holding AG (SIX Swiss Exchange: IFCN) got off to a good start in 2012. Sales for the first three months were USD 80.7 million, representing a considerable increase of 15.4% compared with the fourth quarter of 2011. Positive foreign exchange effects (0.3%) and acquisitive growth of 2.2 percentage points almost made up for the organic sales decline (-3.9%). Year-over-year, sales declined only slightly by 1.3% compared with the record level of Q1 2011. The anticipated decrease in the market for Specific Vacuum Processes (Prior year comparison: -17.3% to USD 26.7 million) was largely offset by increases in the markets for Emergency Response & Security as well as Refrigeration & Air Conditioning. The market for Refrigeration & Air Conditioning (+3.2% to USD 12.9 million) clearly gained momentum in the first quarter (+13.2%) compared with the preceding quarter. The Group’s smallest market Emergency Response & Security reported a significant increase of 165.6% or USD 5.3 million compared with the same quarter last year. With USD 8.5 million, sales reached a new record level in this target market. In the market for General Vacuum Processes, sales reached USD 32.6 million, which represents a small decrease of USD 1.2 million or -3.6% versus the same quarter last year.

Stability Thanks to Broad Market Focus
Demand from customers in the Specific Vacuum Industries declined as expected in the first quarter. Sales to end users grew while sales to Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) in the semiconductor market and in the thin film business fell markedly during the reporting period. The market for General Vacuum Processes developed positively in the European business and recorded solid, yet declining demand from the broad international markets. While sales to Asia in the Refrigeration & Air Conditioning end market dropped in the reporting period, sales volumes to Europe and America were higher. The end market for Emergency Response & Security recorded significant sales increases in all key geographic markets thanks to new and replacement business and gained substantially more momentum for the fourth consecutive quarter.

Further Margin Improvements
The product and customer mix as well as the consistent focus of the development activities on client needs and the innovation of higher margin products had a favorable impact on the earnings situation. During the reporting period INFICON achieved again higher margins: Gross margin (see also fact sheet) rose compared with the same prior-year period from 47.7% to 49.5% and the operating margin was strengthened from 17.8% to 18.0%. The operating income was USD 14.5 million. The net income of USD 10.3 million corresponds to an improvement of the net profit margin from 12.2% to 12.7%. This equals earnings per diluted share of USD 4.64 for the first quarter 2012 after USD 4.53 last year.

Cash generated by operating activities in the first quarter of 2012 declined to USD 3.0 million. Frequency of inventory turnover and days sales outstanding were as usual managed proactively so that INFICON was able to reduce net working capital to 20.9% of sales and close the quarter with net cash (cash minus short-term borrowings) of USD 76.9 million.

Outlook
INFICON is cautiously optimistic for the coming months. Based on the assumption that Europe’s and Asia’s economies stabilize, INFICON has slightly raised its outlook for the full year 2012 expecting sales to reach between USD 280 to 310 million and operating profit between USD 38 to 54 Mio.

Impacts of Change in Reporting Standards to Swiss GAAP FER
INFICON changed its reporting standard from US GAAP to Swiss GAAP FER at the beginning of the year and also prepared the prior-year figures according to Swiss GAAP FER. In the profit and loss statement, the change primarily resulted in higher pension fund liabilities in the prior-year figures and an adjustment relating to options plans. Offsetting goodwill against equity and additional adjustments resulted in a reduction of the balance sheet total by some USD 28 million, resulting in a leaner balance sheet structure while maintaining a stable equity ratio. Further information can be found in the conference call presentation which is available online in the Investors section of the INFICON website, www.inficon.com. A detailed reconciliation will be communicated with the half-year report 2012 and the annual report for the full fiscal year 2012.

Conference Call
INFICON will discuss its first quarter results today in a conference call scheduled for 09:30 a.m. CEST. Participants can dial in as follows:

Continental Europe: +41 (0)91 610 41 11
UK: +44 (0)203 059 58 64
USA (Toll free): +1 (1) 866 666 56 64

All participants should dial in at least 10 minutes prior to the call. There is no PIN required to access the call. A live webcast of the conference call and the presentation visuals are available in the Investors section of the INFICON website at www.inficon.com where the webcast will also later be archived.

E-mail Alerts
To automatically receive notification via e-mail of the latest financial information from INFICON, sign up for e-mail Alert in the Investors section of the INFICON website.

ABOUT INFICON
INFICON is a leading provider of innovative instrumentation, critical sensor technologies, and advanced process control software that enhance productivity and quality in sophisticated industrial vacuum processes. These analysis, measurement and control products are essential for gas leak detection in air conditioning/refrigeration, and automotive manufacturing. They are vital to equipment manufacturers and end-users in the complex fabrication of semiconductors and thin film coatings for optics, flat panel displays, solar cells and industrial vacuum coating applications. Other users of vacuum based processes include the life sciences, research, aerospace, packaging, heat treatment, laser cutting and many other industrial processes. We also leverage our expertise in vacuum technology to provide unique, toxic chemical analysis products for emergency response, security, and environmental monitoring. INFICON is headquartered in Switzerland and has world-class manufacturing facilities in Europe, the United States and China, as well as subsidiaries in China, Finland, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Korea, Liechtenstein, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, the United Kingdom and the United States. INFICON registered shares (IFCN) are listed on SIX Swiss Exchange. 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. 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. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.