Proving that some British companies can get things right, this week ARM has posted its second quarter results and smashed market expectations.
Highlights include record pre-tax profits of £43.5m, up 167 per cent on Q2 2009, and revenue which shot up 54 per cent to £100m. Meanwhile operating margins leaped up from 24.7 per cent to a hugely impressive 42.7 per cent.
“We are pleased to report strong underlying revenue and profit performance in the first half, in improved trading conditions compared with one year ago,” announced ARM CEO Warren East (pictured). “Our strategy remains on track for growth in mobile, non-mobile and new technology outsourcing… ARM continued to gain share in the quarter with shipments of ARM-based chips growing faster than the industry in all target markets.”
It also won’t hurt that ARM has just inked a new licence agreement with Microsoft and completed a long-term manufacturing deal with TSMC. As if ARM’s invigorated business needed any more shots in the (forgive me) arm, East has also spoken out to dismiss any rumours of a takeover.
“It’s one of those things that’s always there as a theoretical possibility,” he told PC Pro. “You know, tornadoes could strike London at some stage. We believe that the business model of ARM is tailored around ARM being independent, and that’s what creates most value for the semiconductor industry and therefore for our shareholders.
“We are a public company and therefore subject to same risks of being taken over as anybody else and we just have to live with that, just as Londoners have to live with the risk of a tornado at some stage.”
As a London dweller myself I’m glad to report tornados are about as likely as a consistently hot and sunny , well… anything so it looks like ARM (currently valued at £4.3 billion) won’t be selling out any time soon.
Gordon
