Aetrium Announces Completion of Restructuring.

Business Editors & Technology Writers

ST. PAUL, Minn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 6, 2001

Aetrium Incorporated (Nasdaq:ATRM) today announced it has completed a restructure of its North St. Paul operation and its corporate organization that resulted in the elimination of 30 positions. The restructuring represents an approximate 17 percent reduction in headcount in those organizations. This action is in addition to the previously announced plan to close the company's San Diego operation that will be completed this month. The company will incur a one-time charge consisting primarily of severance and related costs in the first quarter of 2001. The company will quantify anticipated cost savings from these actions when it reports first quarter results.

"Industry forecasters are currently very inconsistent in their projections for the semiconductor and electronic component industries for the second half of 2001," said Joseph C. Levesque, president and chief executive officer. "They are however more uniform in predicting that the second quarter of 2001 will be the third consecutive quarter that these industries will experience a decline in component shipments. The decline is being attributed to an excess in inventory of certain types of components in the supply chain, an excess in manufacturing capacity, and a less than robust global economy that has decreased the overall demand for electronic components.

"As result of the increased inventory levels and current excess capacity we expect to experience a sharp decline in revenues in 2001 for some of the capacity driven products supplied by our North St. Paul operation. We have taken what we believe to be the necessary cost reduction measures to more effectively match our expenses against our revised revenue expectations for this operation. The restructure of our corporate organization reflects the decrease in management requirements after the closure of our San Diego operation.

"We continue to believe that our newer products offer us unique growth opportunities even in these market conditions. Whether new product sales can make up the reduction in revenues from our more capacity driven products is uncertain at this time. However, our newer products are targeted at new technology requirements and new package types where there is minimal excess capacity or inventory excesses. Our heavy investment in new product development in 2000 is accordingly expected to provide significant benefit to us this year. We continue to be committed to new product development programs that are strategically focused on the largest and fastest growing industry segments."

Certain matters in this news release are forward-looking statements which are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, slowing growth in the demand for semiconductor devices, changes in the rates of capital expenditures by semiconductor manufacturers, progress of product development programs, unanticipated costs associated with the integration of acquired operations, and other risk factors set forth in the company's SEC filings, including its Form 10-K for the year ended Dec. 31, 1999.

Aetrium, based in North St. Paul, Minnesota, is a leading supplier of proprietary technologies and equipment that are used by the worldwide semiconductor industry to assemble and test integrated circuits (IC's) and other electronic components. The company's products are used by customers to advance reliability, improve quality, increase product yield, or improve manufacturing processes. Aetrium has manufacturing facilities in North St. Paul, Minnesota, and Dallas, Texas. Aetrium's common stock is publicly traded on the Nasdaq market under the symbol ATRM. More information about Aetrium is available on the Internet at www.Aetrium.com.