Epcos announced for the third quarter 2005 sales of EUR 310 million up 4% sequentially, down 11% year on year. The quarter under review closed with nearly balanced earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) of minus EUR 1 million, the net loss is EUR 7,6 mllion. Earnings after tax for Q3 2005 were minus EUR 8 million (Q2 2005: minus EUR 49 million; Q3 2004: plus EUR 14 million) Besides interest expenses, the negative earnings also included tax expenses of EUR 4 million, which result from the regional distribution of earnings.

In the Capacitors segment, sales for the reporting period increased by 8% compared to the previous quarter (EUR 81 million). Against Q3 2004 sales were down by 3% from EUR 90 million to EUR 87 million. Sales in the Ceramic Components segment increased 6% from EUR 87 million in the previous quarter to EUR 92 million in Q3 2005, but were still 6% below the level of the previous year (EUR 97 million). In Ceramic Components, EBIT improved to minus EUR 2 million against the previous quarter's figure of minus EUR 4 million. Against the previous year (plus EUR 5 million) however earnings declined, due primarily to the smaller sales volume. Sales for the Surface Acoustic Wave Components (SAW) segment increased from EUR 85 million in the past quarter to EUR 87 million. Nevertheless they still remain 22% below the previous year's level (EUR 111 million). Despite the weak demand SAW Components improved its earnings to EUR 6 million for the quarter against EUR 4 million for the previous quarter (Q3 2004: plus EUR 13 million). Third-quarter sales of EUR 44 million in the Inductors and Ferrites segment equaled those of the previous quarter and were 10% below the level posted in Q3 2004 (EUR 49 million).