Shares in Dublin-based Parthus Technologies surged today after the company forecast higher fourth quarter revenues, underlining that chip designers were relatively well placed to weather tough market conditions.
The company said its net loss before goodwill charges related to acquisitions and research and development narrowed to $3.25 million for the quarter ended September 2001 from the shortfall of $3.3 million in the second quarter.
Third quarter revenue grew three per cent to $10.2 million from $7.2 million in the second quarter. Licensing and royalty revenue grew to $8.2 million.
Parthus, which designs chips and software for mobile devices such as phones and hand-held computers, said it was on course to break even in mid-2002 and achieve profitability in the second half of next year after reporting reduced third-quarter losses.
Ms Elaine Coughlan, chief financial officer at Parthus, says the figures are strong indicators of progress towards a return to profitability.
She adds: "We believe we are on track to achieve breakeven in mid-2002."
The news gave its shares a big boost on the London markets. The stock, which had fallen more than 90 per cent from a high of 419 pence recorded back in September 2000, gained 24 per cent to 43-1/4p.
Parthus also announced it will license US wireless technology giant Motorola the technology that would reduce the amount of power required by mobile devices. The two will jointly develop circuits for wireless devices.