The German semiconductor producer Infineon AG confirmed its outlook for 2019 on Monday after posting strong earnings during the last quarter (Q4) of the current fiscal year.
In Q4, which ended on September 30 for Infineon, the company recorded an annual increase in gross revenue of five percent to 2.04 billion euros (2.29 billion U.S. dollars). The trend held across most corporate divisions, including Automotive (ATV), Industrial Power Control (IPC) and Power Management & Multimarket (PMM), and was largely attributed to strong customer demands, as well as currency effects.
"The fourth quarter was a strong finish to an outstanding fiscal year. For the first time, our current business segments have generated over 2 billion euros of revenue in one single quarter," a statement by Infineon chief executive officer (CEO) Reinhard Ploss read.
Although net profits were down at 141 million euros from 176 million euros between Q4 2018 and Q4 2017 due to a one-off legal cost, full-year net profits still soared by 36 percent to 1.08 billion euros in total.
Infineon recorded total gross revenue of 7.6 billion euros (plus eight percent) in 2017/2018, exceeding its own earnings target. During the same period, the earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) margin slightly exceeded an official target of 17.5 percent with 17.8 percent on average.
As a consequence, Infineon confirmed a previous forecast to achieve further annual revenue growth of 11 percent and an EBIT margin of 18 percent in the 2018/2019 fiscal year. "The digitalization and electrification of many aspects in our daily life are resulting in sustained high demand for our products and solutions", said Ploss. He noted that Infineon was entering the next year with "well-filled order books" and still aimed to grow faster than the semi-conductor market as a whole.
Infineon is listed on the German DAX stock-exchange and is frequently counted among the leading firms in the fast-growing global semi-conductor industry. The company employs around 36,000 staff across the world. (1 euro = 1.12 U.S. dollars)
