IQE Regulatory News (IQE)

22 Dec 2006 07:38

IQE PLC22 December 2006 22 December 2006 IQE plc Trading Update IQE ('the Group', AIM: IQE), the leading global outsource supplier of customisedwafer products and outsource wafer services to the semiconductor industry, todaypublishes a trading update for the year to 31 December 2006. The Group has also today in a separate statement published details of itsacquisition of MBE Technology Pte Ltd ("MBE"), a Singapore based manufacturer ofcompound epitaxial ('epi') wafers for a total cash consideration of S$23 million(£7.5 million). IQE has continued to perform well during the second half of 2006 with theGroup's overall business performing in the line with the Board's expectations.Demand for the Group's wafer products has continued to be strong across allsectors of the business. The weak US dollar has had an impact on revenues, but the natural hedgingderived from a significant proportion of Group costs being in US dollars hasreduced the impact on profitability. The integration of the former EMD facility, acquired in August 2006, has beenvery successful with demand for wireless products in that business exceedingexpectations. The ability to "multi-source" wireless products from within theGroup is proving to be a major benefit for both IQE and its customers. The acquisition has also provided IQE with the opportunity to qualify new andexisting customers with additional wireless products and to acceleratedevelopment of its advanced next generation products, such as the BiFET. Thesetwo developments have resulted in some additional costs during H2 2006, but areexpected to significantly benefit the Group moving forward during 2007. The Group expects to report its preliminary results for the year to 31 December2006 in March 2007. Enquiries: IQE plc www.iqep.com. Dr Drew Nelson, Chief Executive Stuart Hall, Chief Finance Officer Chris Meadows, Investor Relations Noble & Company Limited +44(0) 20 7763 2200 John Llewellyn-Lloyd/ Sam Reynolds College Hill Adrian Duffield/Ben Way +44 (0) 20 7457 2020 Note to Editors IQE is a global leader in the manufacture of complex wafer products andoutsourced foundry services to the semiconductor industry. IQE uses advancedcrystal growth technology (epitaxy) to manufacture and supply bespokesemiconductor wafers ("epi-wafers") to the major chip manufacturing companies,who then use these wafers to make the chips which form the key components ofvirtually all high technology systems. IQE is unique in being able to supplywafers using all of the leading crystal growth technology platforms. IQE's products are found in many leading edge consumer, communication, computingand industrial applications, including a complete range of wafer products forthe wireless industry, including mobile handsets and wireless infrastructure,WiFi, WiMAX, base stations, GPS, and satellite communications; opticalcommunications, optical storage (CD, DVD), laser optical mouse, laser printers &photocopiers, thermal imagers, leading edge medical products, barcode, highefficiency LEDs and a variety of advanced silicon based systems. IQE is also a leading global outsource supplier of advanced semiconductorwafers, with products that cover the whole spectrum of wafer structures,supported by an innovative outsourced services portfolio that allows the Groupto provide a "one stop shop" for the wafer needs of the world's leadingsemiconductor manufacturers. These manufacturers are increasingly seeking to outsource wafer production tospecialist foundries such as IQE, in order to reduce overall wafer costs andaccelerate time to market. IQE provides bespoke R&D services to deliver customised materials for specificapplications and offers specialist technical staff to manufacture tospecification either at its own facilities or on the customer's own sites. TheGroup is also able to leverage its global purchasing volumes to reduce the costof raw materials. In this way IQE's outsourced services provide compellingbenefits in terms of flexibility and predictability of cost, therebysignificantly reducing operating risk. Following the MBE acquisition, IQE will employ around 320 people and operate sixmanufacturing facilities located in Cardiff (two) and Milton Keynes in the UK,and in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and Somerset, New Jersey in the USA, andSingapore. The Group also has nine sales offices located in major economiccentres worldwide. Glossary BiFET: An RF component comprising two different types of transistor (A BipolarTransistor and a Field Effect Transistor) integrated as a single device to allowsmaller component size and better performance. Epiwafer: A wafer of semiconducting material (made by a crystal growth processcalled epitaxy) for use in the manufacture of microelectronic devices. Twomethods of growing the epitaxial layer on existing silicon or other wafers arecurrently used: metal organic chemical vapour deposition (MOCVD) and molecularbeam epitaxy (MBE). These wafers are typically newer types of semiconductorscomprising some combination of the elements gallium, indium, aluminum, nitrogen,phosphorus or arsenic. Semiconductor: A solid whose electrical conductivity can be controlled over awide range, either permanently by introducing impurities ("doping") ordynamically by applying electric fields. Semiconductor devices with dynamicallycontrolled conductivity are the building blocks of integrated circuits, such asmicroprocessors. Semiconductors may be elemental materials such as silicon andgermanium, or compound semiconductors which comprise more than one element suchas gallium arsenide or alloys such as silicon germanium or aluminium galliumarsenide. Wafer: a thin slice of semiconducting material upon which microcircuits areconstructed. Wafers are thus of key importance in the fabrication ofsemiconductor devices such as integrated circuits. Typically they are made invarious sizes ranging from 1 inch (25.4 mm) to 11.8 inches (300 mm), andthicknesses of the approximately 0.5 mm. RF Components: Components such as amplifiers, receivers, and modulators, whichare designed to operate in the range of the electromagnetic spectrum reservedfor microwave or wireless communications. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange