euro adhoc: austriamicrosystems AG / quarterly or semiannual financial statement / austriamicrosystems reports 5% revenue and 26% EBIT growth in first half despite adverse exchange rate environment, e

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28.07.2008

Key financial data for the second quarter and first half of 2008

Unterpremstaetten, Austria (July 28, 2008) — austriamicrosystems
(SWX: AMS), a leading global designer and manufacturer of high
performance analog ICs for communications, industrial, medical and
automotive applications, showed revenue and EBIT growth in the first
half and second quarter of 2008 compared to the previous year despite
an adverse exchange rate environment, given broad-based demand for
its analog IC solutions.

Consolidated second quarter group revenues reached EUR 46.3 million,
up 6% from EUR 43.9 million in the same quarter 2007. Group revenues
for the first six months of 2008 rose 5% to EUR 87.5 million,
compared to EUR 83.3 million recorded in the first half of 2007. This
positive revenue development was achieved despite a significant
deterioration in the USD against the EUR compared to last year. On a
constant currency basis, second quarter revenues grew by 12% compared
to the second quarter last year while first half revenues grew by 11%
compared to the first half 2007 which underscores the positive
development of austriamicrosystems´ business in the second quarter
and first half of 2008.

In the second quarter, gross margin increased to 51% from 50% in the
same quarter last year, driven by positive product mix effects and
manufacturing cost improvements. For the first half of 2008, gross
margin reached 51%, up two percentage points from 49% in the first
six months 2007. The result from operations (EBIT) for the second
quarter increased by 49% to EUR 6.4 million, from EUR 4.3 million in
the same quarter 2007, with continued high R&D investments of 23% of
the quarter´s revenues and despite a negative impact from exchange
rate movements. For the first half-year 2008, the result from
operations (EBIT) was up 26% at EUR 10.1 million, compared to EUR 8.0
million in the same period 2007.

Net income for the second quarter 2008 rose by 44% to EUR 5.9
million, from EUR 4.1 million in the same period last year. Basic and
diluted earnings per share for the second quarter were CHF 0.87 or
EUR 0.54. Net income for the first half of 2008 was up 20% at EUR 9.1
million, equivalent to CHF 1.34 or EUR 0.84 per share (basic and
diluted), compared to EUR 7.6 million for the same period last year.
Total backlog which does not reflect high volume consignment stock
agreements with key customers and is therefore not fully comparable
to the previous year stood at EUR 54.5 million on June 30, 2008
compared to EUR 48.2 million at the end of the first quarter and EUR
54.5 million on June 30, 2007.

austriamicrosystems´ business performed well in the second quarter
and first half year 2008 which underscores the attractiveness of the
company´s product portfolio and its solid market position. In
communications, austriamicrosystems strengthened its position in
advanced power management products for mobile devices such as
handsets, personal navigation and other communications devices. Two
Top 5 handset vendors, Nokia and SonyEricsson, are using its flash
LED driver ICs, lighting management solutions and power management
ICs in increasing volumes for production, newly released and upcoming
models. austriamicrosystems added another, Asia-based Top 5 handset
manufacturer to its customer base in the second quarter which has
designed an austriamicrosystems lighting management solution into
several upcoming models.

austriamicrosystems´ MEMS microphone business returned to growth in
the first half of the current year driven by the increasing
penetration of this technology at top tier handset vendors. With
existing and new solutions, austriamicrosystems holds a leading
position in this competitive market and expects its MEMS microphone
business to develop positively going forward. In mobile
entertainment, austriamicrosystems continues to be successful in high
quality personal media players, information and entertainment devices
with its market-proven audio ICs with advanced power management and
high performance system solutions. Its latest product generation
features significantly reduced power consumption while offering even
higher audio quality and high-quality video capabilities. In the
second quarter, a global consumer electronics OEM decided to develop
an upcoming generation of audio/video mobile entertainment devices
around products from this new family.

The company´s industrial and medical business again delivered strong
results given attractive demand for austriamicrosystems´ industrial
automation, sensor interface, encoder and healthcare IC solutions.
Automation, metering and seismic sensors continued to be important
sub-segments of the industrial business in the first half of 2008. In
consumer healthcare, a leading global sportswear brand successfully
introduced an innovative wearable electronic training assistance
device including an austriamicrosystems sensor interface product.
austriamicrosystems´ magnetic encoder business continues to grow at a
very attractive pace, driven by the industry´s broadest portfolio of
integrated magnetic encoder solutions. This product range was
expanded with new high resolution products to address even more
applications across a multitude of markets. austriamicrosystems´ new
offering of RFID reader ICs has seen outstanding market acceptance
and first design-ins.

In the automotive market, austriamicrosystems saw ongoing good demand
in the areas of sensor interfaces, related systems, car access and
position measurement. Leading global automotive suppliers rely on
complex automotive sensor interfaces for applications such as ESP
where penetration across car classes and regions continues to
increase. In the second quarter, austriamicrosystems was able to
penetrate another European-based Tier 1 automotive systems supplier
underscoring its system and design expertise in the competitive
automotive semiconductor market and its positive long term outlook
for this business.

The foundry business again provided an attractive contribution in the
second quarter and first half based on high quality customers focused
on specialty process technologies such as High Voltage and Silicon
Germanium. In operations, austriamicrosystems´ state-of-the-art 200
mm wafer fab and in-house test centers continued their excellent
performance. The company benefits from a high level natural hedge in
its production costs which was actively set up over the last years as
part of austriamicrosystems´ global manufacturing concept.

Looking forward, austriamicrosystems continues to expect its business
to show growth in revenues, gross margins and earnings on a USD and
EUR basis in 2008, based on currently available information.
austriamicrosystems believes its business to be well positioned with
a strong line-up of successful and upcoming products and a growing
list of high quality customers. However, the company recognizes that
the uncertain future development of the EUR/USD exchange rate and
potential macroeconomic induced end market volatility are risk
factors influencing its revenue and earnings development for the full
year of 2008.

The complete half year report 2008 including detailed financial
information is available on austriamicrosystems´ website under
http://www.austriamicrosystems.com/08ir/report.htm

end of announcement euro adhoc
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ots Originaltext: austriamicrosystems AG
Im Internet recherchierbar: http://www.presseportal.de

Further inquiry note:

Moritz M. Gmeiner

Director Investor Relations

Tel: +43 3136 500-5970

Fax: +43 3136 500-5420

Email: investor@austriamicrosystems.com

Branche: Technology
ISIN: AT0000920863
WKN: 632638
Börsen: SWX Swiss Exchange / official dealing