ARM Holdings posts growth in revenues and profits

ARM Holdings on Tuesday reported a 16 per cent rise in profit before tax for the fourth quarter, boosted by demand for the company's processor technology for smartphones and tablet devices.

Normalised pre-tax profits for the British semiconductor and software design firm came to £80m for the three months to December 2012, compared to £69m for the same period a year earlier.

Revenues came to the tune of £164.2m, up 19% year-on-year, beating the £151m forecast by analysts at Jefferies International.

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Earnings per share for the period rose 10% to 4.08p, slighting under market expectations of 4.2p.

Full year profit before tax was up 20% to £276.5m, buoyed by a revenue increase of 17% to £576.9m. An 18% growth in earnings per share of 14.70p for the year was posted.

The FTSE 100 company said the key driver was sales of the group's processor technology for smartphones, mobile computers, medical devices and microcontrollers.

ARM saw 36 processor licences signed during the fourth quarter along with 2.5bn chips shipped.

Processor royalty also increased 21% year-on-year, buttressed by strong growth in the growth in the group's Cortex-A and Mali-based chips.

"ARM has seen good revenue and earnings growth throughout 2012. Customers are developing products to meet the needs of the post PC era and are driving demand for ARM's most advanced technology," Chief Executive Officer, Warren East, said.

"In [the fourth quarter] we again saw influential market-leaders demonstrating their commitment to ARM technology by licensing our latest products. Royalty revenue has also grown strongly during [the fourth quarter] underpinned by ARM's market share gains and an increased royalty percentage from Cortex-A class processors being deployed into smartphones and tablets.

"[This year] brings exciting opportunities and challenges as ARM enters competitive new markets where we are well positioned to succeed with leading technology, an innovative business model and a thriving ecosystem of partners."

RD