- 23 March 2005 -

IQE looks forward

UK, Welsh-based IQE's preliminary year-end results, show full year revenue down 18.2% to around £15.3m. The weak dollar, particularly in Q3 impacted sales, down 8.5% in dollar terms at $27.9m. But on volume, 2004 was good as wafer sales increased by 27.3% to approximately 140,000 units up on 2003's 110,000 units.

IQE has also narrowed its loss before taxes by 25.9% to some £10.1m ($19.4m), attributed to tight cost control, cost reduction measures and continued improvement in operational efficiencies.

IQE s total R&D costs were £835,000 ($1.6m) or 5.4% of sales with the company claiming significant cost savings by focusing on only the most cost effective programs, and IQE is optomistic having secured an outsourcing contract at the end of 2004 involving RF applications worth some $25m over
the first two years.

"After some setbacks in our main market sectors during 3Q, the last few weeks of 2004 saw a significant upturn in business with the commencement of a major outsource contract, increased demand for RF products driven by renewed growth in the mobile handset marketplace, and the completion of some significant qualifications," said IQE president and CEO, Drew Nelson.

Winning the contract gives IQE its largest order book for more than two years, and will deliver substantially improved revenues in 2005.

IQE successfully completed several qualifications during 2004 and expects to complete others in the first half of 2005 now being formally qualified to supply key materials for a range of optoelectronic components to Far East manufacturers and a major US defense contractor for RF components.

Among its 2004 milestones were the encouraging device results on its proprietary strained silicon; achieving the highest ever power output from a vertical cavity laser; and demonstrating of the world's first four band QWIP with NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (see III-Vs Review, March)