For first-quarter 2017, Riber S.A. of Bezons, France, which manufactures molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) systems as well as evaporation sources and effusion cells, has reported revenue of €9.2m, up dramatically from €1.4m a year ago.
This is due mainly to revenue for Cells & Sources booming 18-fold from €0.4m to €7.3m, primarily for the photovoltaic and screen industries. In addition, one MBE research system (worth €0.9m) was delivered, compared with none a year ago. Sales of Services & Accessories are steady year-on-year at €1m.
By geographic region, 75% revenue came from Asia, 21% from Europe and just 3% from the USA.
The total order book has risen by 37% from €12.4m at end-March 2016 to €17m at the end of Q1/2017. This has been driven mainly by Cells & Sources orders quadrupling from €0.5m to €2m, supplemented by orders for Services & Accessories rising by 88% from €2.4m to €4.5m.
The systems order book has risen by 11% from €9.5m to €10.5m, comprising four production machines (up from two in 2016) and three research systems (down from five in 2016), all for delivery in 2017. This does not include an order from University of California Santa Barbara (UCSB) in the USA (announced on 18 April) for a model C21T MBE system, to be used for research on chalcogenide materials.
Considering its good visibility, Riber is targeting revenue growth of at least 30% for full-year 2017.
The firm’s executive board has also implemented the share buyback program that was authorized by the combined general meeting of 22 June 2016.
