INFICON Reports Profit in Continuously Difficult Environment

Income from operations of USD 3.0 million in third quarter of 2009 equates to 6.4% of sales
Sales increased 18.6% over previous quarter, but declined 24.6% versus third quarter of 2008
Visibility of market remains low

Bad Ragaz/Switzerland, October 20, 2009. INFICON (SIX Swiss Exchange: IFCN) recorded a 24.6% sales decrease to USD 46.0 million compared with the third quarter of 2008. After a considerable sales decline in the first six months of the year, INFICON was able to sequentially increase its sales by 18.6% over the second quarter of 2009. INFICON reports income from operations of USD 3.0 million and net income of USD 2.4 million for the third quarter 2009.

Sales for the third quarter 2009 totaled USD 46.0 million compared with USD 60.9 million in the third quarter of 2008, representing a 24.6% decrease. At constant USD rates, the decline amounted to 24.2%. On a sequential basis, third quarter sales increased by 18.6% over the second quarter of 2009. The higher sales volume, cost reduction measures taken in the first half of 2009 and cautious cost management resulted in an income from operations of USD 3.0 million, a net income of USD 2.4 million or earnings of USD 1.12 per fully diluted share. This compares with income from operations of USD 6.7 million, a net income of USD 5.5 million and earnings per share of USD 2.53 in the third quarter 2008.

Sales increase over previous quarter
“Quarterly sales for the Specific Vacuum Process Industries (Solar, Displays, Optics, Semiconductor) market clearly increased compared with the second quarter of 2009. Both, the chip and tool manufacturers in Asia as well as in the USA showed increasing demand, while the Vacuum Coating market grew somewhat slower,” commented Lukas Winkler, CEO of INFICON.

“The General Vacuum Processes market activity has also gradually picked up. Sales to the Refrigeration & Air Conditioning market decreased slightly in the third quarter of 2009, due to lower demand in the Asian markets. Sales development in Emergency Response & Security increased significantly in the period under review. Based on our order backlog we expect to see solid capacity utilization in this area for the remainder of the year,” added Lukas Winkler.

Financial strength
In the third quarter of 2009 INFICON reported a positive cash flow from operations of USD 3.6 million versus USD 2.6 million in the second quarter of this year. The company closed the quarter with cash and cash equivalents of USD 32.6 million after USD 45.8 million at the end of December 2008. With an equity ratio of 78.5% at the end of September 2009, up from 76.6% at the end of December 2008, the balance sheet of INFICON continues to be very solid.

Cautious outlook
”We have reduced our cost base and have reached break-even again,” explained Lukas Winkler.

“Despite the slowly rising demand levels we still expect a difficult economic environment. We expect for the current quarter a similar result as in our just completed third quarter. Therefore we will continue to manage costs, capital expenditures and our working capital with caution.

INFICON is confident that the cost reduction measures taken, the strong balance sheet, as well as the high equity ratio are true competitive advantages in a difficult economic environment,” concluded Lukas Winkler.

Analyst/Media conference call and webcast
INFICON will discuss its third quarter results today in a conference call scheduled for 09:30 a.m. CEST. The local dial-in numbers are as follows: Continental Europe: +41 (0)91 610 41 11; UK: +44 (0)207 098 07 02; 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 www.inficon.com where the webcast will also be archived and available on demand approximately one hour after the end of the conference.

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