Riber reports solid growth in sales and earnings
French MBE firm Riber has announced its full-year results for 2024, marked by solid growth in sales and profitability.
Revenues grew by 5 percent to €41.2m. Income from ordinary operations was €4.5m, representing 11 percent of revenues, and net income was €4.1m, representing 21 percent growth.
Riber said it achieved its revenue targets, driven by solid growth in MBE system sales. According to the company, this momentum reflects the strengthening of its positions in the MBE market, for both research and industrial production, as evidenced by the strong order intake during the year, with 13 new MBE systems. In this context, the company's earnings show a clear improvement compared with the previous year.
Alongside this, Riber moved forward with innovation with the development of ROSIE (Riber Oxide on SIlicon Epitaxy), a new system dedicated to silicon photonics and the growing demands of optical transmission and reception applications.
Its commercial launch is scheduled for 2026, supported by the demand for advanced semiconductor materials dedicated to data transmission and AI.
Full-year revenues for 2024 increased to €41.2m, up +5 percent from 2023. Revenues for MBE systems were up +7 percent to €31.0m for 12 machines delivered, compared with 13 in 2023. Revenues for services and accessories amounted to €10.2 million, representing 24.8 percent of 2024 revenues, and were broadly stable year-on-year.
The gross margin was €14.8m, up +12.1 percent, driven by growth in system business. Income from ordinary operations was €4.5m, up +14.4 percent compared with the previous year, thanks to control of operating costs. It represents 11 percent of revenues, compared with 10 percent in 2023. Net income totaled €4.1m, compared with €3.4m in 2023, an increase of +21.4 percent.
The cash position at end-2023 was positive at €8.6m, compared to €9.7m at end-2023.
Shareholders’ equity totaled €23.6m, up +€2.3m compared with end-2023. This change is driven by the earnings for the year 2024 and the distribution of amounts drawn against the issue premium for 2023 to shareholders.
Order book
The order book at December 31, 2024 represented €21.7m, down 17 percent year-on-year, including 7 MBE systems (€16.7m), of which 5 for production, as well as orders for services and accessories (€5.0m).
The order book is up after factoring the two new orders announced in January 2025 for a production system in Europe and a research system in the United States, both scheduled for delivery in 2025.
Outlook
In view of the uncertainties linked to the application of US customs duties and the economic environment, Riber is reserving its position on issuing guidance for fiscal year 2025.
Riber remains committed to its medium-term objectives. In this context, Riber is moving forward with its growth strategy by strengthening its technological leadership and expanding its solutions into new high value-added markets, particularly silicon photonics and materials for quantum technologies.
These developments will be presented at the next Annual General Meeting on June 18, 2025, when the board will propose a cash distribution of €0.08 per share, through a partial reimbursement of the issue premium. It will be released for payment on June 25, 2025.
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