INFICON Announces Fourth Quarter 2003 Results

SYRACUSE, N.Y. & ZURICH, Switzerland--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 18, 2004--INFICON Holding AG (SWX Swiss Exchange and NASDAQ:IFCN), a leading manufacturer of vacuum instrumentation and process control software for the semiconductor and related industries and other industrial applications, today announced final results for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2003.

Revenues for the fourth quarter of 2003 were $45.0 million, compared to $33.3 million for the fourth quarter of 2002, up 35.0%. On a constant dollar basis, revenues grew 26.5%. Semiconductor Vacuum Instrumentation segment revenues were $10.9 million in the fourth quarter of 2003, compared to $8.0 million in the same quarter of 2002. General Vacuum Instrumentation segment revenues for the fourth quarter of 2003 were $34.1 million, compared to $25.3 million in the same period last year.

Net income for the quarter was $764 thousand ($0.33 per diluted share - $0.03 per ADS), compared to $8 thousand ($0.00 per diluted share - $0.00 per ADS) in the fourth quarter of 2002.

For the year ended December 31, 2003, revenues were $159.4 million compared to $130.3 million reported in fiscal year 2002. For the full year, the company reported a net loss of $9.4 million ($4.06 per diluted share - $0.41 per ADS) compared to net income of $0.1 million ($0.05 per diluted share - $0.01 per ADS). Included in the full year net loss was a one-time $7.4 million impairment charge related to a write down of long-lived assets in the company's patterning solutions product line that was taken in the third quarter. In addition, the company recorded a loss from discontinued operations of $3.4 million related to its Ultra Clean Processing Business Unit.

As of December 31, 2003, INFICON had $37.1 million in cash and cash equivalents, having generated $890 thousand from operations, used $5.6 million for investments and generated $208 thousand from financing activities during the year.

"INFICON ended 2003 on a strong note with higher than expected revenues and growth in all geographic regions and all product lines," said Lukas Winkler, president and chief executive officer. "Equally important, we saw renewed order momentum in the semiconductor market. This improved momentum was accompanied by another strong performance in our Environmental Health and Safety business and by a surge in sales of leak detectors."

Winkler continued, "We are encouraged by the recovery taking place in both the semiconductor and related markets and by the momentum we have been experiencing in this part of our business. We believe INFICON is well positioned to take advantage of upswings in these markets as a result of our strong new technology and product pipeline. At the same time, the general economic environment has improved only moderately. These factors, combined with the timing of anticipated product deliveries, lead us to expect revenues of approximately $46 million and net income of approximately $1.7 million ($0.74 per share or $0.07 per ADS) in the first quarter of fiscal 2004."

Conference Call Information

INFICON will hold a conference call to discuss its fourth quarter fiscal year end 2003 results on Wednesday, February 18, 2004 at 10:00 a.m. EST/4:00 p.m. CET. To access the conference call, please dial 706-634-1033 by 9:50 a.m. EST/3:50 p.m. CET. A live webcast of the conference call will also be available in the Investor Relations section of the INFICON website, www.inficon.com. To access the replay, please dial 800-642-1687 (international callers dial 706-645-9291), conference ID number 4861329. The replay will be available until 11:59 p.m. EST on February 25/5:59 a.m. CET on February 26.

ABOUT INFICON
INFICON is a leading developer, manufacturer and supplier of innovative vacuum instrumentation, critical sensor technologies, and advanced process control software for the semiconductor and related 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 and toxic chemical analysis to the air conditioning/refrigeration, emergency response and industrial hygiene 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", 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 2002 and the Company's reports on Form 6-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission during 2003. 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.