ARM profits from uptick in tech demand

ARM, the chip designer whose processor technology powers Apple's and Samsung's smartphones, posted a 22 per cent rise in three-quarter profit after it made further inroads into markets like digital TVs and microcontrollers.

The Cambridge-based firm posted pretax profit of 68.1 million ($109.2 million) on revenue 20 per cent higher at 144.6 million, resulting in earnings per share of 3.71 pence. The numbers were all slightly ahead of average market expectations.

ARM, which reports royalty revenues a quarter in arrears, said indications from its chip making customers pointed to a moderate sequential increase in royalty revenue in the final quarter.

It said its order backlog also indicated another strong quarter for licensing, and it expected dollar revenues for the quarter to be in line with market expectations.

The company said at its second-quarter results in July that analysts expected full-year revenue of $875 million, after slightly nudging down their forecasts from earlier in the year to reflect the weaker economic climate.

They were expecting pretax profit of 67.4 million pounds on revenue of 140 million pounds, resulting in earnings per share of 3.62 pence for the third quarter, according to a company-supplied consensus of 26 brokers.