Imagination Technologies profits soar

Soaring demand for technology such as in-car navigation and mobile phones sent revenues and profits soaring at the chip designer Imagination Technologies in the six months to 31 October.Pre-tax profits jumped to £3.9m from £100,000 over the same period the previous year as revenues surged to £38.2m from £27.2m.'Our technologies in multimedia, communication/broadcast and embedded processing offer unique and significant advantages to our partners and a strong scalable base for our progress,' said chief executive Hossein Yassaie. 'These technologies have been both driving and riding many of the key recent trends.'Licensing revenues, which includes technology for mobile 'phones, digital TVs and computers, climbed by 2% to £9.3m, helped by deals with companies such as Intel and Apple. Royalty revenues, which includes in-car navigation and personal navigation device technology, rose by 72% to £11.1m.PURE Digital, the digital radio division, saw revenues increase by 52% to £17.8m as retail conditions improved.The UK, which has led the way in the shift to digital radio in Europe, was the main source of revenue for PURE, with sales climbing by 25% to £12.4m. Our neighbours on the continent and further afield are catching up though, and helped international revenues treble to £5.4m.Imagination finance director Trevor Selby explained that while the rise in UK sales represents a return to normality amid improved economic conditions, countries such as Switzerland and Australia are still in early stages of development in terms of adopting 'Digital Audio Broadcasting' standards. Imagination also stands to gain from government switch-over plans in France, Germany and Italy, which have 'big potential' according to Selby, who added: 'In due course China and India will come into the market, though that is further down the line.'