IQE profitability improves after record revenue result

Semiconductor wafer and materials supplier IQE reported a record revenue performance in its full-year results on Thursday, rising 27% year-on-year to £178m driven by the start of the 5G ‘mega-cycle’.

The AIM-traded firm said wireless revenue rose 38% to £94.2m in the year ended 31 December, driven by 5G infrastructure deployments in Asia and 5G handset market penetration.

Photonics revenue improved 17% to £81.6m, driven by continued growth in 3D sensing and other advanced sensing applications, in particular ‘epiwafers’ for direct time-of-flight camera modules used in augmented reality applications.

It reported a foreign exchange headwind of £0.5m, and said net cash flow from operations rose to £35.5m from £8.9m, resulting from its strong trading performance, capital spending controls and working capital management.

That led to a net cash position excluding lease liabilities of £1.9m as at 31 December, swinging from net debt of £16m at the end of 2019.

IQE reported an increase in profitability, swinging to an adjusted operating profit of £5.4m from a loss of £4.7m, as a result of revenue growth and the benefits of high operational gearing.

Its reported operating loss came in at £5.5m, narrowing from £18.8m as a result of “exceptional” impairment charges and legal costs reported at the half year, offset by the proceeds from the settlement of a legal dispute resolved in the company’s favour.

Capital expenditure reduced to £5.0m on property, plant and equipment, from £31.9m in the prior year, as the infrastructure phase of the group’s capacity expansion in 2018 and 2019 was completed.

“Despite the global uncertainty that we encountered, the strength and diversification of our business enabled us to deliver record revenues,” said chief executive officer Dr Drew Nelson.

“At the same time, we have made positive progress against our strategy and recorded strong growth across our wireless and photonics divisions, despite the external pressures.

“This progress, combined with the return to a cash positive position and the range of unique materials solutions for high performance devices in our development pipeline, ensures we are well placed to maintain our leadership position as the 5G mega-cycle gathers pace in the coming years.”

At 0944 GMT, shares in IQE were down 8.75% at 66.25p.