Riber S.A. of Bezons, France, which manufactures molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) systems as well as evaporation sources and effusion cells, has confirmed revenue of €12.5m for first-half 2017, up 80% on €7m in first-half 2016 (and the firm’s best first half since 2011).
This is due mainly to revenue for evaporators (Cells and Sources) growing significantly from just €1m to €8.8m (driven by the photovoltaic and screen industries), Revenue for Services and Accessories grew by 18% from €2.4m to €2.8m. This growth was offset somewhat by Systems revenue falling by 76% from €3.6m to just €0.9m.
Gross margin has hence risen from 36.9% to 46.2%. Income from ordinary operations was €1.3m (operating margin of 10.6% of revenue), up €2.4m from -€1.1m (-16.2% margin) in first-half 2016. After factoring in €0.8m of non-recurring items, operating income was €0.5m (4.2% margin), up €1.6m from a -€1.1m loss (-15.9% margin). Net income was €0.1m, up €1.3m on a net loss of -€1.2m in first-half 2016.
Considering the funds collected on billing and the advance payments received on orders during first-half 2017, cash (net of financial debt) has continued to strengthen, from just €0.8m at the end of June 2016 and €2.5m at the end of December 2016 to €4.6m at the end of June 2017.
With €15.4m of shareholders’ equity at the end of June, Riber reckons that it still has all the capacity needed to finance its development.
The order book has risen by 92% year-on-year to €16.8m at the end of June, including seven MBE systems (four of which are production machines) and strong growth for components and services.
Riber expects this dynamic development to continue through to the end of the 2017, with several contracts moving forward (such as the major orders recorded so far in third-quarter 2017).
In view of this, Riber forecasts full-year 2017 revenue of close to €30m (almost doubling from 2016’s €16.5m), with income from ordinary operations of at least €3m.
