Communications tech business invests for growth despite supply chain problems

Communications technology firm, Filtronic, says it has continued to build momentum in its key strategic markets as it publishes half year results for the six months ended 30 November 2022.

Revenue for the Shipley-based group was 5% up on the prior year with sales of £8.4m (H1 2022: £8m), in line with forecasts.

The business made a pre-tax profit for the period of £440,000 (H1 2022: £685,000) and adjusted EBITDA of £1m (H1 2022: £1.1m).

Jonathan Neale, chairman, said: “Global spending on aerospace & defence, telecommunications infrastructure and low earth orbit commercial space applications is increasing, underpinned by exciting technological advancements.

“We have also seen governments re-evaluate critical infrastructure supply with an emphasis on security and national resilience.   

“Our contract wins and successful project deliveries through 2022 in high technology microwave and millimetre wave sub-systems demonstrate our belief that we have a world class technical capability.

“Our main objective remains the development of scale and value growth. We are also investing in important capital equipment to support engineering and new production capability for existing and emerging applications in these growth markets.”

Filtronic adds it has officially opened a new site in Manchester, which increases the company’s engineering capacity with the addition of a highly skilled and experienced team.

And post period it was awarded a $2.8m/£2.3m contract with a leading global provider of low earth orbit satellite communications equipment expanding the firm’s presence in the new space market.

In its outlook statement, the business cautions that prospects for the current financial year continues to be shaped by global supply chain challenges.

It states the semiconductor shortages originating during the pandemic are showing signs of recovery but supplies of specific components are still inconsistent and prone to schedule change.

The firm notes: “The impact of this global issue not only disrupts manufacturing at Filtronic, but it also impacts our customers’ ability to complete their own manufacturing cycle.

“The team at Filtronic are adept at component sourcing and fortunate that we can rely on our ability to make rapid design changes to accommodate alternative components and use our in-house manufacturing resources to react quickly to changes in material availability.

“While we deal with the frustration of the continuing component shortages, we have focused our efforts on driving forward our strategic operational targets, and therefore remain confident in our ability to deliver growth in FY2024 and beyond.”