15th Apr 2014 07:58
LONDON (Alliance News) - Shares in DDD Group PLC Tuesday dropped 21% after it swung to a pretax loss in 2013, hit by lower shipments of its 3D imaging technology in the ailing PC market, although it expressed confidence that it can return to growth in 2014.
The company posted a pretax loss of USD2.0 million, swung from a pretax profit of USD1.3 million in 2012, as revenue dropped to USD3.4 million from USD8.6 million, knocked by a slump in shipments of its TriDef 3D technology across TV, PC and mobile.
Shipments dropped to 11.2 million units from 15 million during the year. The company said that the market for 3D PC products is declining in tandem with the general slump in the PC market, as consumers increasingly switch to tablet and mobile devices. Unless there is a reversal in this market in general, DDD said it does not expect this market to contribute to its future 3D technology revenues.
However, the company expressed confidence in the emerging 3D smart-phones and tablets market, saying a majority of its new licensees are in this market.
DDD said that during 2013 a licensee had developed a chip for 3D televisions using its technologies, which it began marketing to its customers in the early part of 2014. DDD cautioned that it is uncertain whether customers will take up these new chip-sets, but this could present further royalties for the company.
Although revenues declined, gross margin improved to 99% from 97%, as the company shifted its revenue towards higher margin royalties.
DDD said that it expects to bolster its current 3D market revenues with new opportunities in 2D markets like depth sensor and video pre-processing services, which will reduce its reliance on the 3D market.
It will also look to secure licensees for new video game and 3D conversion applications, particularly focusing on the Chinese Smart television and 3D tablet manufacturers. It will add content to its Yabazam 3D movie streaming service to bolster the number of users on the service.
DDD appointed IP Navigations Group to act as a patent advisers in March in order to secure licence fees for the use of its patents in 3D consumer products and professional services.
Shares in DDD were trading down 21% at 4.27 pence Tuesday morning.
By Hana Stewart-Smith; [email protected]; @HanaSSAllNews
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