Arm Holdings boosts profit and revenue in second quarter as it gears up for takeover by Japan’s Softbank
Microchip maker Arm Holdings has bumped up its interim dividend after reporting increased revenue and profit in the second quarter of 2016.
The figures
Revenue in dollars was up nine per cent to $387.6m (£295m), from $357.1m in the second quarter of 2015. Revenue in sterling rose 17 per cent year-on-year, to hit £267.6m. The company said over 95 per cent of its invoicing is in dollars.
Pre-tax profit increased by one per cent to £95.9m, up from £94.7m last year, while earnings per share went up by 17 per cent to 6.3p, from 5.4p.
Arm hiked its interim dividend by 20 per cent to 3.78p per share – last year it paid out 3.15p per share.
Why it's interesting
These are the first figures Arm has reported since it announced last week that it had recommended a £24.3bn takeover bid by Japanese telecoms group Softbank – as such, Arm has not given any guidance for its full-year performance.
The company's share price rocketed last Monday as investors welcomed the offer, which Arm's chairman Stuart Chambers said described as "compelling". However, Arm founder Hermann Hauser said it was a "sad day" for British technology, and did not bode well for the future of the sector.
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What Arm said
Chief exec Simon Segars said: "Our royalty revenue growth continues to outperform the wider semiconductor industry, driven by market share gains and the increasing adoption of Arm's latest technologies. With more end-users selecting Arm technology for products ranging from sensors to satellites to supercomputers, we expect this outperformance will continue.
"As new technologies are created and new markets emerge, Arm will continue to evolve its products and business models to capture the opportunities ahead."
In short
Arm's prospective new owners will no doubt be pleased by its most recent set of results.