During the first two months of the business year 2000 order intake increased to CHF 32.6 million, which represents a marked improvement over the CHF 14.5 million of orders received during the same time period last year. Additionally, shipments climbed from CHF 1.6 million in January and February 1999 to CHF 28.8 million during the first two months of this year. The positive financial trend that began in 1999 continued into 2000, with SEZ's book-to-bill-ratio reaching 1.13 at the end of February.

As of February 29, 2000 SEZ Group had orders in hand worth CHF 57.4 million, compared to CHF 12.9 million on February 28, 1999. SEZ's excellent order situation is due primarily to orders received from the Asian market.

Please note:
The publication of the 1999 Annual Report and the media presentation and analyst conference will now both take place on April 7, 2000 at the SWX Swiss Exchange in Zurich. Previously, the Annual Report was to be released on March 30, 2000 and the media presentation and analyst conference was to take place on April 26, 2000. The ordinary shareholders' meeting will take place on May 9, 2000 at the Widder Hotel in Zurich.

The unrivalled spin-process technology (a wet-process for wafer surface treatment in microchip production) developed by SEZ has established the Group as the world leader in this technology. You will find further information on the Group's home page at www.sez.com.

Villach/Zurich: March 16, 2000