Semiconductor maker Infineon said it was able to narrow its losses in the first quarter of the current business year but warned the outlook for the next six months was uncertain.
In its statement, Infineon said it posted a net loss of €331 million in the three months to December, narrower than the net loss of €523 million recorded in the preceding quarter.
Loss before interest and tax (EBIT) also narrowed to €564 million in the October-December period, compared with a loss of €882 million in the previous three months, Infineon said in a statement.
Infineon runs its business year from October to September, so that the period from October to December represents the first quarter of its business year.
On a yearly comparison, however, both net loss and EBIT were still much wider than they had been in the first quarter of last year, owing to "further price erosion, especially for memory products and increasing pricing pressure for chip card ICs [integrated circuits]," Infineon said.
Earnings in the fourth quarter of last year had been distorted by extraordinary factors - such as one-time charges of €307 million connected with inventory write-downs, acquisition related expenses, restructuring charges, as well as net gains from the sale of non-core businesses - Infineon said.
In terms of revenue, business continued to contract, with sales down 5 per cent quarter-on-quarter at €1.03 billion," the company reported.
AFP