23rd Mar 2015 07:59
LONDON (Alliance News) - Telit Communications PLC Monday said 2015 has started positively and in line with its expectations, as it posted a rise in pretax profit for 2014.
The communications technology company posted a pretax profit of USD13.9 million, up from USD12.0 million a year before, as a rise in revenue to USD294.0 million from USD243.2 million was partly offset by higher operating costs resulting from acquisitions and investments during the year.
Research and development costs rose by USD17.4 million in the year as a result of an acquisition in late 2013 and the acquisition of the automotive business ATOP from MXP Semiconductors NV in April, and continued investment in its products. Acquisitions also led to sales and marketing costs rising by USD11.8 million.
Telit saw a strong performance in the Americas, boosted by an increase in average selling price, and the continued transition of users from 2G to 4G technology in North America. The year was more challenging in Latin America, it said, due to disruption from the Brazilian presidential election, the World Cup, and economic instability in Argentina.
The company expects a strong year of growth in this region in 2015 as it continues to see a shift towards 3G technology and an increase in interest for 4G technology.
In Europe, the Middle East and Africa, Telit saw slower growth, as the European economy continued to struggle, and political uncertainty caused disruption.
Additionally the shift towards 3G and 4G technologies has not been replicated in this region, the company said. It expects these conditions to continue in 2015 and as a result expects modest growth for the year with many big projects shifting in 2016.
In Asia Pacific, the company saw 45% growth in revenue as it focused on the high-value-added segment in 2G technology, and it expanded in 3G and 4G.
The company has been continuing to invest in its m2mAIR software platform-as-a-service product, which it hopes will help drive growth on the back of the growing 'internet of things' trend.
Telit said that its outlook for 2014 looks positive, both for it as a company and for the machine-to-machine communications industry as a whole.
By Hana Stewart-Smith; [email protected]; @HanaSSAllNews
Copyright 2015 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
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