Consumer demand drives Wolfson to raise guidance

Peter Clarke

EE Times

(10/24/2005 10:06 AM EDT)

LONDON — Wolfson Microelectronics plc, a fabless vendor of mixed-signal ICs for digital consumer electronics, has raised its guidance for the second half of 2005 on the strength of demand for portable products. The company said Monday (Oct. 24) that it expects revenues to be in excess of $90 million, up by more than 13 percent on market consensus. Wolfson (Edinburgh, Scotland) had said it could see increasing demand for portable products at the time of the announcement of its first half financial results in July 2005. However, this trend has accelerated, as some customers experience better than expected demand for their flagship products, Wolfson said. Sales of the consumer audio and imaging products remain in line previous expectations, the company said. As a result, Wolfson now expects its second half revenues to be in excess of $90 million, compared to current market consensus of approximately $79 million.

“We entered the second half of the year with a record order backlog which has translated into good revenue growth in the third quarter. The backlog has continued to increase with stronger demand for our products from a range of customers giving a strong finish to 2005,” said David Milne, Wolfson’s chief executive officer, in a statement.