Micro-chip maker ARM Holdings (LON:ARM) posted higher profits and revenue and dividends but said it was seeing a slowdown in its core smartphone market.
ARM said fourth quarter pre-tax profits rose 17% to £138.7mln on a 19% increase in revenue to £269.1mln against the same period a year ago. It increased its annual dividend by a quarter to 5.63p.
Micro-processor royalty revenues in US$ were up 24% year-on-year and the company's order backlog rose about 10%.
The company had increased shipped four billion chips based on ARM processor technology in the period, up 16% year-on-year
ARM, which supplies the likes of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) said it had been seeing a slowdown in its key smartphone market for the last few years.
Chief executive Simon Segars told financial broadcaster CNBC it was "something that was always going to happen and that we anticipated."
But Segars added: "Smartphones are getting more sophisticated and the opportunity to put more power in these products is going up."
Segars also said the company was expecting a rapid increase in demand for semi-conductors for cars, a market potentially worth US$15bn.
He said the company had entered 2016 with robust licensing opportunities helped by its introduction of new technologies and expanding markets.
The group said increased economic uncertainty may influence consumer and enterprise spending, potentially impacting semiconductor revenues and industry confidence.
"Based on current conditions in the semiconductor market, we expect group dollar revenues for the full year to be broadly in line with market expectations," ARM said.
Segars added that a UK vote to leave the EU in the forthcoming referendum would make it "much more difficult" for companies like ARM to grow.
He said the company had at least 300 engineers and skilled staff from continental Europe in the UK and being in the EU made it easy for those people to move freely.
If the company had to apply for individual visas for those staff to move around Europe, Segars said, "it would slow our business down".
Full-year pre-tax profits rose 24% to £511.5mln on a 22% increase in revenue to £968.3mln.