The European Commission slapped Infineon Technologies (GE: IFX) with an €83m (£66m) fine for conspiring with Samsung and Philips to fix the prices and production of microchips used in mobile SIM cards between 2003 and 2005. The group, which provides microchips to sectors such as energy and security, denies any wrongdoing and plans to appeal.
The news follows Infineon’s acquisition of US peer International Rectifier for $3bn (£1.8bn) in cash last month. And it comes less than six weeks after Infineon reported that its third-quarter segment result - a similar measure to pre-tax profits - leapt 45 per cent to €170m. That was driven by strong automotive sales and its industrial power control division tripling its segment result to €40m.
Broker Liberum forecasts EPS of 0.44¢, rising to 0.56¢ in 2015 (from 0.26¢ in 2013).
