IQE FY revenues surge on strong H2 performance

IQE said revenues for the twelve months ended 31 December were expected to be no less than £115.0m, a more than 20% jump half-on-half, in line with previous guidance.

The London-listed firm also expects adjusted underlying earnings of at least £3.0m, while its net debt position was also expected to be around £3.0m.

"I am pleased our business performance was aligned to guidance despite a challenging macro environment. We returned to growth from H1 to H2 2023 and expect this positive trajectory to continue in 2024," said chief executive Americo Lemos. "Additionally, we made significant progress implementing our diversification strategy, expanding our customer engagement pipeline and securing multiple design wins in GaN Power and MicroLED markets. Our strategic investment in GaN capacity in 2023 is anticipated to unlock further opportunities throughout 2024."

Separately, IQE appointed Jutta Meier as chief financial officer following "an extensive global search process", with effect from 22 January. She joins IQE from Intel, where she served as a senior finance director at Intel Foundry Services, supporting the unit's business transformation.

As of 1020 GMT, IQE shares were up 7.91% at 20.50p.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com