ROODMICROTEC REALISES SEVERAL OPERATING SUCCESSES
(Thomson Reuters ONE) - GENERALSales growth of Rood Testhouse International N.V. (RoodMicrotec) inthe third quarter of 2009 compared to the second quarter of 2009 wasat least equal to the growth of the global semiconductor industry asa whole.According to the SIA (Semiconductor Industry Association) globalsemiconductor sales increased by 17% in the third quarter of 2009compared to the second quarter 2009, while RoodMicrotec realised 18%sales growth in the same period. The sales developments of the pastfew years are shown in the diagram below (please download PDF).The sales growth was driven largely by Supply Chain Management andTest & Related services. This was offset by a lower gross margin as apercentage of sales caused by a considerably higher purchasing volumein Supply Chain Management compared to the other sectors. The sectorsFailure & Technology Analysis, Qualification and Test Engineeringremained at the same level as in the second quarter of 2009.The order portfolio further increased in the third quarter, whichraised the book-to-bill ratio by 10%.'While we are still far from satisfied with the way things are going,we consider this clear increase of the number of orders as a goodsign. Furthermore, we have achieved a number of operational successesover the past few months. We continue to be cautiously optimistic,but we expect that significant positive developments will not occurbefore 2010,' said Philip Nijenhuis, CEO of RoodMicrotec.DEVELOPMENTSHigh reliabilityIn the area of space and satellite communication and in acousticmicroscopy we have secured major new clients, in particular for thebusiness units Failure & Technology Analysis and Qualification, andthe number of applications for our services has increased.HERMESBased on an EU review, we have qualified for the next phase in theHERMES industrialisation project. The HERMES project aims at furtherdeveloping the concept of embedded thin chips in electronic boards asa basis for an integrated manufacturing of electronic circuits.HERMES will have significant benefits in terms of technology, costreduction and time-to-market.Automotive, space and aeronautical industriesFor the automotive, space and aeronautical industries, where there isa need for fast access to measurement results in order to fine-tuneproducts, we have invested in an automatic burn-in loader.This constitutes a major step towards optimising the entirequalification and reliability process, and secures long-term productreliability. This process is also known as 'safe launch'. Thisreconfirms the strength of 'certified by RoodMicrotec' (see also thepress release dated 26 August 2009).LED Light-for-YOUWe are a certified partner of OSRAM's LED Light-for-YOU network.This network boasts high-calibre service partners in the area ofLEDs. The online platform www.ledlightforyou.com offers variousoptical, thermal and electronic solutions in the area of LEDs (seealso the press release dated 12 June 2009).ADDED MOMENTUM TO SALES ORGANISATION IN UNITED KINGDOMWe have expanded our sales capacity in the United Kingdom with theappointment of Mr Mike Jarvis as our sales representative. Mr Jarvis(56) has over 25 years' experience in the semiconductor industry inthe UK and has an extensive and impressive network. For many years,he worked as a sales manager for Eltek Semiconductors Ltd inDartmouth. He currently represents both RoodMicrotec and EltekSemiconductors (see also the press release dated 28 October 2009).RationalisationNext to several internal rationalisation projects, we have succeededin reducing the hardware costs for new specific test applications bydozens of percents, increasing our competitiveness.PersonnelThe permanent workforce, which has been reduced year-on-year byapprox. 34 FTEs (approx. 20%), will be further reduced over the nextyear. Personnel costs are being reduced as far as possible by meansof short-time working, for which schemes are in place until January2011.However, in order to improve our market strength, we will recruit newstaff in the high-level growth sectors.Outlook for 2009In view of the continuing uncertainty about economic developments, wecannot at this time make any concrete predictions for the fourthquarter of 2009. The increase of the number of orders and the salesdevelopments so far indicate to us a continuation of the recovery inthe last quarter of 2009, barring unforeseen circumstances. Due toour market position, sales efforts, cost reductions and optimisationof the organisation, RoodMicrotec will benefit from a marketrecovery.The SIA has recently raised its growth forecasts for 2010 and 2011 to10.2% and 8.4% respectively. We will continue our strategy of growingabove the market growth rate. We therefore maintain our previouslydefined objectives of long-term (beyond 2010) average annualautonomous growth of between 5% and 15%, improving the operatingresult and the net result and further reducing our debt position.RoodMicrotec continues to be interested in collaboration with otherparties.FINANCIAL AGENDA12 January 2010 Publication sales figures 200925 February 2010 Publication annual figures 200925 February 2010 Conference call for press and analysts11 March 2010 Publication annual report 200925 March 2010 Annual general meeting of shareholdersForward-looking statementsThis press release contains a number of forward-looking statements.These statements are based on current expectations, estimates andprognoses of the board of management and on the information currentlyavailable to the company. The statements are subject to certain risksand uncertainties which are hard to evaluate, such as the generaleconomic conditions, interest rates, exchange rates and amendments tostatutory laws and regulations. The board of management ofRoodMicrotec cannot guarantee that its expectations will materialise.Furthermore, RoodMicrotec does not accept any obligation to updatethe statements made in this press release.RoodMicrotec's activitiesWith almost 40 years' experience in value-added service provision,RoodMicrotec has built up a strong position in Europe in themicroelectronics and optoelectronics sectors. Its services includefailure & technology analysis, qualification & burn-in, test- &product engineering, production test - device programming -end-of-line service, reliability engineering - ESD/ESDFOS assessment& training and supply chain management. These services comply withthe quality requirements of the automotive, aerospace,telecommunications, medical, IT and industrial electronics sectors.RoodMicrotec has branches in Germany (Dresden, Nördlingen, Stuttgart)and the Netherlands (Zwolle).For further information:Philip Nijenhuis, CEO Phone: +31 384215216 Fax: +31 38 4216410Correspondence address:Rood Testhouse International N.V., P.O. box 1042, 8001 BA Zwolle,The NetherlandsE-mail: info(at)roodtechnology.com Web-site:www.roodmicrotec.comhttp://hugin.info/130789/R/1354476/328460.pdfhttp://hugin.info/130789/R/1354476/328461.pdfThis announcement was originally distributed by Hugin. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
Datum: 12.11.2009 - 08:30 Uhr
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