Production problems at one of its key US plants have hit first half profits of Filtronic Plc. However, the Shipley, UK-based producer of microwave products for cellular and cable telecommunications has hopes of a contract worth tens of millions of dollars for a new CDMA system in China.
Executive chairman professor David Rhodes says contracts for a new CDMA system for China Unicom are expected to be awarded before the end of January 2000 and Filtronic is in a strong position to provide appropriate products. A contract win would enable results for the full financial year to meet market expectations.
The company’s US operation Filtronic Comtek Inc, which had been making losses, has now been bolstered by European management and they have implemented a plan to return it to profitability. Nevertheless, first half losses at Filtronic Comtek are likely to be greater than expected.
While the company feels the outlook is promising, Rhodes repeats the warning that the timing and scale of some programs in the wireless infrastructure business can cause significant fluctuations in short-term trading performance.
