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 The Dublin-based firm said that in the third quarter, ended 30 September, licensing and royalty revenue grew 83 percent year-on-year to USD8.2 million, up 15 percent sequentially from USD7.2 million. This massive jump in royalty and licensing income is important to Parthus since its income is based almost solely on intellectual property rather than manufacturing.
"This performance is ahead of expectations and validates the resilience of our IP licensing business model," said the company's chief executive officer, Brian Long. He continued, "We have the financial strength, with cash on hand of USD127 million and a low cash requirement, to continue to build upon our technology portfolio and customer relationships."
It is also important to note that the semiconductor industry is facing a severe downturn, which Parthus has evaded for the second quarter in a row. To some extent this can be attributed to the company's reliance on IP and its strategy of developing next generation products, which are usually in demand.
For the final quarter of the year, the Irish semiconductor company did not forecast exact figures but did offer a positive outlook for licensing revenue. "Despite the current background of uncertainty and the steep down cycle in the semiconductor industry, Parthus expects licensing revenue to continue to grow reflecting strong demand for the company's products."
The company also said it expects a modest sequential increase in fourth quarter revenue overall and will breakeven in mid 2002.
Other important figures announced on Wednesday included a growth in total revenue of 22 percent year-on-year to USD10.5 million, up three percent from USD10.2 million in the second quarter.
The company said gross margins grew three percent to 73 percent and pro forma basic and diluted net losses per share came to USD0.0056 per ordinary share or USD0.056 per ADS (American Depository share).
Parthus' agreement with Motorola, which came in conjunction with the firm's financial results, will see the two companies develop power management technology and a series of power management integrated circuits. According to Parthus, next generation wireless handsets have power demands that current battery technologies cannot meet. The two companies will try to overcome this problem by developing highly advanced power management integrated circuits and techniques.
Motorola is due to deploy a product based on the collaboration soon, but no further details, or the value of the deal, were available on Wednesday.
The partnership with the US mobile communications giant is the most recent in series of deals and licensing agreements made by Parthus in recent months. Most recently the company said in early October it was engaging in an IP Partner Program with Indian company Wipro Technologies.
In fact, in the third quarter the company signed five licensing agreements, and 20 in the nine months to 30 September. The firm's customer base now exceeds 40 accounts including six of the top 10 wireless semiconductor companies worldwide.
Parthus employs 428 worldwide and is at http://www.parthus.com
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