ARM Holdings plc (LSE:ARM) posted strong growth in revenues and profits as it prepared to float in New York or London.
With a record 29.2bn chips shipped using its chip designs, the Cambridge-based company reported US$2.7bn of revenues for the year to end-March 2022, up 35% on the prior year.
Licensing revenue was up 61% to US$1.13bn and royalties rose 20% US$1.54bn. Licensing fees are paid by customers to use ARM’s blueprints to fabricate their own chips or processors, with royalties then paid per unit once the chips or processor is shipped inside devices.
Royalties rose as more 5G smartphones were shipped and more advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and in-vehicle infotainment (IVI) chips were installed in cars, ARM said.
ARM has been pressured by SoftBank to raise licensing fees since it was taken over, according to some reports.
“Our record results demonstrate that the demand for Arm technology and the strength of the Arm ecosystem has never been greater," said chief executive Rene Haas, saying the company's platform "will power the next set of technology revolutions across cloud computing, automotive and autonomous systems, the IoT, the Metaverse and beyond".
“As we look ahead to a future built on Arm, our priority is to continue to deliver on our business strategy, enable partners with the solutions they need through further investment in our roadmaps and engineering talent, and together with our ecosystem redefine the future of computing.”