* Sales of Approximately € 47.5 Million, Up 10% over Third Quarter of 2005 *
* Orders of Approximately € 49 Million, Up Approximately 15% over Third Quarter of 2005 *
* Book-to-Bill Ratio of Approximately 1.03 *
Drunen, the Netherlands, January 17, 2006, BE Semiconductor Industries N.V. ("the Company" or "Besi") (Nasdaq: BESI; Euronext: BESI), a leading manufacturer of assembly equipment for the semiconductor industry, today announced preliminary sales information for the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2005.
Net sales for the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2005 are expected to be approximately
€ 47.5 million, an increase of approximately 10% as compared to net sales of € 43.1 million for the third quarter of 2005, an increase of approximately 54% as compared to actual net sales of € 30.9 million in the fourth quarter of 2004 and a decrease of approximately 5% as compared to pro forma net sales of € 50.1 million in the fourth quarter of 2004 (the pro forma information reflects the acquisition of Datacon as if such transaction had occurred on January 1, 2004).

Orders for the quarter ended December 31, 2005 totaled approximately € 49 million, an increase of approximately 15% as compared to orders of € 42.7 million for the third quarter of 2005, an increase of approximately 178% as compared to actual orders of € 17.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2004 and an increase of approximately 51% as compared to pro forma orders of € 32.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2004. In addition, backlog was up slightly to approximately € 57 million at December 31, 2005 as compared to € 55.4 million at September 30, 2005, up approximately 79% as compared to an actual backlog of € 31.8 million at December 31, 2004 and up 12% as compared to a pro forma backlog of € 50.9 million at December 31, 2004.
Besi will report its 2005 fourth quarter and annual results on February 7, 2006.
BE Semiconductor Industries N.V. designs, develops, manufactures, markets and services die sorting, flip chip and multi-chip die bonding, packaging and plating equipment for the semiconductor industry’s assembly operations. Its customers consist primarily of leading U.S., European, Asian, Korean and Japanese semiconductor manufacturers and subcontractors which utilize its products for both array connect and conventional leadframe manufacturing processes.

Caution Concerning Forward Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements, which are found in various places throughout the press release, including statements relating to expectations of orders, net sales, product shipments, expenses, operating results and the impact of the acquisition of Datacon on Besi’s net income in fiscal year 2005. The words “anticipate”, “estimate”, “expect”, “intend”, “may”, “plan”, “predict”, “project”, “will”, “would”, and similar expressions are intended to identify forward looking statements, althought not all forward looking statements contain these identifying words. While these forward-looking statements represent our judgments and future expectations concerning the development of our business, a number of risks, uncertainties and other important factors could cause actual developments and results to differ materially from our expectations. These factors include, but are not limited to, those listed or discussed in our Annual Report on Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2004, as well as the risk that anticipated orders may not materialize or that orders received may be postponed or canceled, generally without charges; the volatility in the demand for semiconductors and our products and services; acts of terrorism and violence; overall global economic conditions; risks, such as changes in trade regulations, currency fluctuations, political instability and war, associated with substantial foreign customers, suppliers and foreign manufacturing operations; potential instability in foreign capital markets; the risk of failure to successfully manage our expanding and more diverse operations; and other key factors that could adversely affect our businesses and financial performance contained in our filings and reports, including those with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. We are under no obligation to (and expressly disclaim any such obligation to) update or alter our forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Bron : BE Semiconductor Industries