These full-year figures from CSR (CSR) are something of a formality. The wireless connectivity specialist has accepted microchip giant Qualcomm's cash offer of 900p a share and expects to delist this summer.
CSR's sales slid once again as it shifted from making handset components to connected platforms. But its gross margin widened by 6.1 percentage points to 58.5 per cent, including a record 60.4 per cent in the final quarter. Together with lower costs, that drove underlying operating profit up by 5 per cent to $110m (£72.1m).
Revenues fell 3 per cent at CSR's core automotive, voice, music and consumer businesses, which now account for 93 per cent of sales. That reflected weak camera and gaming sales and mounting competition in the Chinese auto after-market.
Yet CSR's prospects for 2015 are more promising: strong demand for high-end headphones and speakers drove core sales up 12 per cent in the fourth quarter. And its latest offerings are gaining traction. For example, CSR inked 83 licences last year for aptX, its real-time audio streaming technology. It was also included in 148 new products, including Sony and Samsung smartphones and Denon speakers.
Broker N+1 Singer expects pre-tax profit of $71m for 2015, giving EPS of 32.1¢ (from $68.9m and 30.7¢, respectively, in 2014).
| CSR (CSR) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 866p | MARKET VALUE: | £1.4bn | |
| TOUCH: | 866-867p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 890p | LOW: 506p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 0.4% | PE RATIO: | 22 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 399¢* | NET CASH: | $283m | |
| Year to 26 Dec | Turnover ($bn) | Pre-tax profit ($m) | Earnings per share (¢) | Dividend per share (¢) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 0.80 | -6 | 9.0 | 6.5 |
| 2011 | 0.85 | -52 | 19.0 | 10.3 |
| 2012 | 1.03 | 102 | 26.0 | 11.8 |
| 2013 | 0.96 | -52 | -28.0 | 13.6 |
| 2014 | 0.77 | 94 | 59.0 | 5.2† |
| % change | -19 | - | - | -62 |
£1=$1.52 *Includes intangible assets of $198m, or 119¢ a share †No full-year dividend in light of Qualcomm's takeover | ||||
