Industry Pulse - Mar '06

* Benchmark Electronics reported Q4 results above guidance previously indicated. The majority of the upside was driven by high-end computing. The Company says it is in the final stages of looking into a greenfield location in Northern China while it is also looking into potential acquisitions in the same area. Benchmark continues to display an impressive level of execution and financial acumen.

* Celestica's European restructuring continues. Balance sheet metrics are looking for stable ground with the Company's cash conversion cycle and receivables both extending. While Celestica recently reported worse than expected gross and operating margins, Celestica did show relative performance improvements with its server and telecommunications programs. VO believes Company restructuring efforts may hopefully have a positive impact on overall margins near the end of calendar 2006.

* Foxconn is experiencing better than expected orders from Nokia and Sony-Ericsson. The Company is also venturing into high-end ODM handheld devices and it anticipates new business in the wireless infrastructure end-market. VO believes all of this could translate to a near 10% increase in revenues for 2006 and nearly a 50% increase for 2007.

* Plexus continues to penetrate the defense sector. The likelihood of the Company being able to achieve greater than normal margins in this line of business could help to offset any North American restructuring considerations.

* Elcoteq announced weaker Q4 and Q1 forecasts noting softness in handsets and telecom. Sales to top handset customers Nokia and Ericsson were off 5% from previous quarter. The weaker results could reflect Company-share loss on both sides of the wireless market.

VentureOutsource.com, March 2006