Riber reports strong H1 2018
Riber, a French semiconductor equipment firm, is releasing its earnings for the first half of 2018 and its outlook for the full year.
Revenues for the first half of 2018 climbed 34 percent from the first half of 2017 to €16.7m. Sales growth is being supported by the major deliveries of evaporators for the screen industry and the delivery of four MBE systems, including one production system, compared with one research system in the first half of 2017
The gross margin is up 42 percent to €8.2m, representing 49 percent of revenues, versus 46 percent for the first half of 2017, reflecting the positive change in revenues and the effective management of commercial margins.
EBITDA is up 64 percent to €3.8m, representing 22.6 percent of revenues, compared with 18.5 percent for the first half of 2017. This performance reflects the effective control over the increase in R&D and administrative costs.
Operating income came to €2.8m, representing 17.0 percent of revenues, compared with 4.2 percent for the first half of 2017, which included various non-recurring items for €0.8m.
Consolidated net income is up €2.3m to €2.4m, compared with €0.1m at June 30, 2017.
Net cash at end-June 2018 came to €5.2m (€4.6m at June 30, 2017), down €2.1m from December 31, 2017. This change is linked primarily to the growth in business, resulting in an increase in inventories during the first half of 2018.
On the balance sheet, shareholders' equity is up from €19.8m at December 31, 2017 to €21.1m at June 30, 2018, after factoring in half-year earnings and the annual dividend paid out in June.
With an order book of €34.1m at June 30, 2018, up 103 percent from June 30, 2017, Riber says it has good visibility for 2018 and 2019.
In this context, Riber is forecasting full-year revenues of €35m for 2018 and at least 15 percent year-on-year growth for income from ordinary operations.
Outlook for profitable growth
The opening of a fully-owned subsidiary in China in July 2018 will notably enable the company to further strengthen its presence on the Chinese market, which offers major prospects for semiconductor manufacturing investments, and where several high-potential projects are currently being negotiated to serve the Chinese market for fiber-optic and terrestrial telecommunications networks. It will also help offer sales and after-sales services for Chinese clients, as well as maintenance solutions.
In a buoyant environment driven by information technology innovations over the coming years, Riber is moving forward with its development, increasing its market shares across all its product lines, expanding its portfolio of technologies and clients, and ramping up the development of its service activities.
