ICOS Vision Systems announces fourth-quarter and FY2003 results

FEBRUARY 20--ICOS Vision Systems Corporation NV (Heverlee, Belgium; www.icos.be), developer and supplier of inspection equipment, has announced results for the fourth quarter and year, ended December 31, 2003. Revenues for the three months ended December 31, 2003, were 15.0 million Euro, representing a 42% increase over the third quarter and a 74% increase over the 8.7 million Euro reported in the fourth quarter of 2002. Income from operations for the fourth quarter of 2003 was 3.1 million Euro, more than double the third quarter operating profit of 1.4 million Euro and more than sevenfold the 427 thousand Euro reported in the fourth quarter of 2002. Net income for the fourth quarter of 2003 was 3.3 million Euro, or 31 Eurocents per share, compared to a net loss of 926 thousand Euro, or 9 Eurocents per share, for the same quarter last year. Fourth quarter results benefited from the elimination of a valuation allowance for deferred tax assets in our Japanese subsidiary, which contributed 4 Eurocents.

Revenues for 2003 were 44.8 million Euro compared to 30.6 million Euro in 2002, an increase of 47%. Operating profit in 2003 amounted to 5.9 million Euro compared to a loss from operations of 325 thousand Euro in 2002. Net income for 2003 was 5.3 million Euro, or 51 Eurocents per share, compared to a net loss of 2.4 million Euro, or 23 Eurocents per share, in 2002. The company ended the year with 29.5 million Euro in cash and cash equivalents and generated 5.1 million Euro in net cash from operating activities during the year.

For the full year 2003, board-level products accounted for approximately 15% of revenues, system-level products for 14% and inspection machines for 71% of revenues. On a geographic basis, Europe represented 25% of revenues, Japan 16%, other countries in Asia 48%, and the United States 11%.

"ICOS ended another year of growth with strong performance in the fourth quarter, the ninth consecutive quarter of sequential revenue growth," said Anton DeProft, ICOS president and chief executive officer. "We were able to react swiftly to the sharp increase in demand, maintaining delivery times even as revenues increased 42% sequentially. The combination of revenue gains and our low fixed cost operating model, caused the operating margin, a key performance measure, to jump to 20.5% from 13.3% in the third quarter."