Infineon profits trimmed by lower sales

LONDON – German chipmaker Infineon Technologies AG has reported a profitable first quarter to its 2012 financial and forecast somewhere between a flat revenue and a slight decline in revenue for its second fiscal quarter.

Sales revenue was 946 million euro (about $1.24 billion), slightly ahead of guidance. The figure is down from 1.038 billion euro (about $1.36 billion) in the previous quarter but up on 922 million euro (about $1.21 billion) in the equivalent quarter a year before.

Infineon (Munich, Germany) made a profit – or total seqment return in Infineon parlance – of 141 million euro (about $185 million) or 14.9 percent of sales revenue. This profit was down from the 18.8 percent achieved in the previous quarter and from the 19.2 percent achieved a year before.

The company contrasted its 14 percent annual growth in the calendar year of 2011 to the 3 percent it assigned to the semiconductor industry excluding memories and microprocessors.

"Infineon continues to deliver solid profitability despite a difficult economic environment. Our strategy to focus on less volatile and more profitable businesses is paying off demonstrated by a stronger top-line as compared to our peers," said Peter Bauer, Infneon CEO, in a statement. "To secure future profitable growth in our markets of energy efficiency, mobility and security we continue to invest in R&D, customer relationships and manufacturing capacity."

An anticyclical philosophy of investment saw Infineon spend 294 million euro (about $386 million) in the first quarter of the 2012 fiscal year on capital projects. These included: upgrades for the production of power semiconductors on thin wafers of 300-mm diameter in Dresden, Germany; the construction of a second 200-mm wafer fabrication building at Kulim, Malaysia; the expansion of power module capacity in Cegled, Hungary, as well as numerous automation and quality projects.

Infineon said that the automotive sector continued to show confidence and that there were signs of stabilization in the chipcard and lower power markets.


Related links and articles:

Infineon warns of sales decline in 2012

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Infineon profits as car woes no-show

Infineon profits trimmed by lower sales

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