Shares in semiconductor supplier IQE PLC (LON:IQE) surged by a quarter to 25p after it said its revenues are picking up.
The shares are still at one-third of the level they were at back in November of last year – the month in which it warned on profits – with much of that decline coming over the last month but the company calmed some nerves as it revealed its performance in 2019 was in line with revised guidance issued in November.
Furthermore, trading in the first quarter was also in line with expectations.
The supplier of advanced wafer products and material solutions to the semiconductor industry said forecasts from its customers are relatively strong with high levels of production in March for wireless products and 3D sensing vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers.
The revenue trajectory for March is currently on a weekly run rate significantly higher than average monthly revenue for 2019, IQE revealed.
As for 2019, revenue fell to £140.0mln from £156.3mln the year before but was towards the top end of the revised guidance range of £136mln and £142mln issued in November; prior to its November statement, the company had been guiding to revenues of £140mln to £160mln.
The group made an adjusted operating loss of £4.7mln, versus a profit the previous year of £16.0mln, in line with November’s guidance.
Net debt excluding lease liabilities of £16.0mln at the end of the year was near the bottom end of the guidance of £15mln to £20mln issued in November.
“The spread of coronavirus has introduced significant near-term uncertainty into global economies and markets; however, to date, we have not experienced any significant disruption to our current production or order intake relating to coronavirus, but we have implemented appropriate business continuity measures and we are well placed to withstand the near-term market uncertainty,” said Drew Nelson, the chief executive officer of IQE.