Bede looks forward to a brighter future.

Byline: By Guy Anderson 

Shares in Bede leapt 12pc yesterday as the X-ray technology company announced two new contracts and a share placing which raised pounds 714,000.

The deals pushed the share price to a year-high of 28p, leading analysts to say that the Durham group has "finally come of age" after a troubled trading history.

Bede announced that a "leading" European semiconductor manufacturer ordered equipment to analyse silicon wafers, while a microchip manufacturer has increased the size of a multi-million pound order for X-ray tools.

Jon LiAnard, equities analyst at the Newcastle office of stockbrokers Brewin Dolphin, said: "Semiconductor technology is finally catching up with Bede, which has been ahead of its time. The company has come of age."

"The technology is now so small that it requires X-rays to inspect it, rather than conventional means.

Sales reached a record pounds 2.7m in the first four months of this year for Bede, despite losses widening to pounds 4m for the last 12 months.

Directors at Bede ( which employs 70 people in Durham ( even took a voluntary 10pc pay cut as part of a cost-cutting drive which saved the company pounds 1m in costs last year.

Bede revealed yesterday that pounds 714,000 has been raised through a placing of 2,800,000 new ordinary shares of two pence each with institutional investors at a placing price of 25.5p.

Mr LiAnard said: "This demonstrates that Bede both has institutional support and orders in which to invest money raised. It is a positive decision.

"The story is not over yet but Bede is moving in the right direction."

Dr Neil Loxley, chief executive, Bede, said: "We are delighted that an increasing number of leading global semiconductor manufacturers are choosing Bede to provide X-ray metrology tools for their manufacturing and development needs.

"The use of Bede tools for process control in both memory and logic device manufacturing is a further indication of the growing importance of X-ray metrology for advanced semiconductor manufacturing and Bede's lead within these markets."

Bede, which also has offices in the USA, China, and an operation in the Czech Republic, estimates that the semiconductor market will be worth more than $5bn (pounds 2.7bn) a year by 2006 and that its focus on cracking the market will bring tangible benefits before then.