15th Sep 2015 06:49
LONDON (Alliance News) - IQE PLC on Tuesday expressed confidence in meeting its full year expectations, as it posted a swing to a pretax profit for the first half of 2015 due to lower one-off costs, and strong sales in its photonics business.
Separately, the company announced that it has signed an exclusive license and option agreement for the 'Rare Earth Oxide' semiconductor technology of Translucent Inc, a subsidiary of Silex Systems Ltd, for up to USD1.5 million. The deal gives IQE a 30-month licence to commercialise the technology, and an option to subsequently acquire it.
IQE supplies wafer products and services to the semiconductor industry.
For the half year to end-June, the company reported a pretax profit of GBP3.9 million, swung from a pretax loss of GBP2.3 million a year before, as revenue rose to GBP53.2 million from GBP52.0 million, mostly due to higher one-off costs in the previous year.
On an adjusted basis, stripping out acquisition costs, share-based payments, restructuring and costs related to the reassessment of expected future water volumes, pretax profit rose to GBP5.9 million from GBP5.6 million a year before.
Revenue growth was driven by a strong performance from IQE's photonics business, which offset a reduction in its wireless segment due to some temporary production disruption at one of its customers.
"Whilst we remain vigilant to the macroeconomic risks, our customer forecasts continue to reflect a normal second half weighting of demand. IQE's board remains confident in achieving its full-year expectations," said Chief Executive Drew Nelson in a statement.
By Hana Stewart-Smith; hanassmith@alliancenews.com; @HanaSSAllNews
Copyright 2015 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Related Shares:
IQE