The boards tendency to anticipate market reaction events/news is not helping.  It’s right that our happy band should desire SP gains but the ‘I want it now’ syndrome is getting the better of a more balanced sense of reality here.

Im not going to cut and paste but reading the MD&A in detail paints a very positive picture for me.  It is company information/news I accept that that’s all we are going to get from management at the moment. But To read into the report that there are company generated delays is not accepting the difficult geopolitical circumstances they have to contend with and the carefully balanced relationship they must adopt with customers and partnerships.  We need to be more tolerant of potential delays caused by such effects and not read them as setbacks.

To illustrate the difficult situation that the Photonics industry is in, read as a taster the IQE statement below extracted from their recent news releases.  IQE is a big development company in South Wales supplying the industry.

Guidance reiterated despite uncertain backdrop

Management reiterated its guidance for full-year sales of £140.0-160.0m, but said that various factors would impact on its outlook.

Those included the uncertainty around the geopolitical landscape - especially the confidence for supply chains to rebuild inventory - the market for smartphone handsets and the speed with which Asian supply chains would rebuild and get up to speed in terms of product qualifications, which would determine the volumes of initial orders.

The mid-point of the projected range for its sales would equate to a roughly 3.0% dip in full-year revenues.

IQE also reaffirmed a previous forecast for an adjusted operating profit margin "significantly" below its original guidance of over 10.0%, blaming low capacity utilisation and a higher number of continuing product qualifications, although the group expected to remain profitable .

Capital expenditures meanwhile were pegged at £30.0-40.0m depending on the timing of its decision on whether to invest more at either Newport or in Taiwan "which is discretionary depending on prevailing market conditions".

"The Group has sufficient installed capacity to underpin significant revenue growth," management added.

Looking out to the medium-term on the other hand, the outfit said the macro trends associated with 5G and connectivity would drive "significant growth for compound semiconductors over the coming year".

IQE also highlighted how it simply supplied the wafers but was agnostic as to the eventual winners and losers at the chip and original equipment level as well as the high barriers to entry in its industry.ct on its outlook.

Those included the uncertainty around the geopolitical landscape - especially the confidence for supply chains to rebuild inventory - the market for smartphone handsets and the speed with which Asian supply chains would rebuild and get up to speed in terms of product qualifications, which would determine the volumes of initial orders.

IQE also reaffirmed a previous forecast for an adjusted operating profit margin "significantly" below its original guidance of over 10.0%, blaming low capacity utilisation and a higher number of continuing product qualifications, although the group expected to remain profitable .

Capital expenditures meanwhile were pegged at £30.0-40.0m depending on the timing of its decision on whether to invest more at either Newport or in Taiwan "which is discretionary depending on prevailing market conditions".

"The Group has sufficient installed capacity to underpin significant revenue growth," management added.

Looking out to the medium-term on the other hand, the outfit said the macro trends associated with 5G and connectivity would drive "significant growth for compound semiconductors over the coming year".

IQE also highlighted how it simply supplied the wafers but was agnostic as to the eventual winners and losers at the chip and original equipment level as well as the high barriers to entry in its industry.

The last statement is the most telling.  

Sula