Dialog Semiconductor Plc.: Dialog Semiconductor Reports Fourth Quarter and Year Ended 31 December 2009 Results

Dialog Semiconductor Plc. / Final Results

11.02.2010 07:30

Dissemination of an Ad hoc announcement according to §
15 WpHG, transmitted by DGAP - a company of EquityStory
AG.
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of
this announcement.


-------------------------------------------------------

Company reports revenue in 2009 of $217.6 million,
achieving 34.5% growth over 2008

Kirchheim/Teck, Germany, 11th February 2010 - Dialog
Semiconductor plc (FWB: DLG), a leading provider of
Power Management Semiconductor solutions today reports
results for Q4 and the audited financial year ended
31st December 2009.

Q4 and Financial Year 2009 Financial Highlights   

  - Revenue for Q4 2009 was $77.6 million, an increase
of 31.4% over the     prior quarter and 49.5% on Q4
2008. For the financial year, revenue was     $217.6
million representing an increase of 34.5% over 2008.

  - Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash
increased in Q4 2009 by     $76.8 million to stand at
$123.1 million, an increase of $86.2 million     over
the prior year period, including $59.7 million from an
equity     offering in September 2009.

  - Further improvement in net income in Q4 2009 with
a net income of $19.9     million or 25.6% of revenue.
For the financial year, net income was     $32.7
million or 15.0% of revenue, including the positive
impact of a     $7.5 million deferred tax asset.

  - For the financial year 2009, gross margin was
44.9%, representing an     increase of 6.2 percentage
points year over year, including the benefit     of an
exceptional cash settlement of $2.3 million in Q2 2009.

  - Q4 2009 diluted and basic earnings per share of 31
cents and 34 cents     respectively. For the financial
year 2009, diluted and basic earnings     per share of
60 cents and 67 cents respectively.

Q4 and Financial Year 2009 Operational Highlights   

  - Continued Power Management design wins within the
smartphone market     segment, with 2009 seeing the
ramp of high volume designs in several     industry
leaders' products.

  - Success within the emerging 3G Android smartphone
segment with the     first design win announced in Q4
2009 with LG for China Mobile.

  - Adoption of our 3G/HSPA Power Management
technology in convergent     devices including ebooks
and netbooks.

  - Platform partnership announced with NEC
Electronics(R) based on NEC     Emma Mobile(TM)
processor and Dialog's Configurable Power Management   
 standard product 
  - Entrance in 2009 to the portable audio market with
industry's lowest     power solution.

  - Strategic partnership with Intel(R) and first
design wins in 2009 for     Power Management companion
products for Atom(TM) processors.

  - Increased demand from Automotive and Industrial
segment during Q4 2009 
  - Winners of Global semiconductor association and
Elektras's European     fabless company awards for 2009.



-------------------------------------------------------

Information and Explaination of the Issuer to this
News: 
Commenting on the results Dialog Chief Executive, Dr
Jalal Bagherli, said:  
'2009 was a very successful year for Dialog where we
led the industry and continued to grow. We focused our
efforts on solidifying our position as the leading
Power Management IC provider to the industry's leading 
smartphone manufacturers, 3G/HSPA cellphones and
portable media devices while delivering strong revenue
growth and improved profitability through the economic
downturn. We also reinforced our customer
relationships and strengthened our already robust
balance sheet.

'As a leader in portable power management integrated
technology, we are now a highly credible partner
worldwide for delivering and extending the battery
efficiency of portable devices. With our current
design wins, and a pipeline of innovative new products,
leading to further design win opportunities, we are
very encouraged by our long-term growth prospects as 
energy efficiency assumes an ever increasing
importance in product design.' 
FINANCIAL OVERVIEW

Revenue in Q4 2009 was $77.6 million, a sequential
increase of 31.4% on the $59.1 million of revenue
delivered in the Q3 2009 and an increase of 49.5% over
the $51.9 million in the comparative period last year.
 For the financial year 2009, revenue was $217.6
million: an increase of 34.5% over 2008, where revenue
was $161.8 million.

Gross margin in Q4 was 48.0%. This represents an
increase of 5.9 percentage points over the 42.1% in the
comparative period last year, demonstrating operational
leverage from much higher volumes. For the financial
year 2009, the gross margin was 44.9% representing an
increase of 6.2 percentage points over the gross margin
of 38.7% registered in 2008. Excluding the effect of
the $2.3 million cash settlement from the BenQ
insolvency received in Q2 2009, gross margin for 2009
would have been 44.4%.

The growth in revenue led to further improvement in
our operating profit during Q4 2009. Operating profit
in Q4 2009 was $14.2 million or 18.3% of total revenues
compared to $9.6 million or 16.3% of total revenues in
the prior quarter. For the full year 2009, our
operating profit grew by $22.7 million from $6.0
million in 2008 to $28.7 million in 2009, representing 
13.2% of total revenue.

The net tax credit of $3.9 million for the year ended
31 December 2009 includes a one-off benefit of $7.5
million - or 14 cents per diluted share, being the
recognition of a proportion of the deferred tax assets 
principally relating to carried forward losses.  The
current year taxable profits also benefit from the
utilisation of brought forward tax losses leaving a
residual minimum level tax charge mainly applying to
taxable profits in Germany. Going forward and on a
quarterly basis, we will consider whether it is
appropriate to continue to recognise further currently
unrecognised deferred tax assets.

In Q4 2009, our ninth consecutive quarter of
profitability, net income was $19.9 million or 31 cents
per diluted share (34 cents per basic share).
This compares to a net income level of $8.8 million or
18 cents per diluted share (19 cents per basic share)
delivered in the prior quarter and to a net income of
$4.6 million or 10 cents per share (basic and diluted)
in the fourth quarter of 2008. For the 2009 financial
year, net income was $32.7 million or 60 cents per
diluted share (67 cents per basic share), compared to
$6.8 million and earnings per share of 15 cents
recorded in 2008 (basic and diluted).

At 31 December 2009, we had a cash, restricted cash
and cash equivalents balance of $123.1 million, with no
debt. This represents an increase of $76.8 million over
the cash and securities balance of the prior quarter
and $86.2 million for the financial year. Of this
increase, $33.2 million was generated from operations
during the year and $59.7 million originates from the
Company's successful international equity offering
which closed in September 2009, where 12 million
ordinary shares were issued at a price of EUR3.65.

At the end of Q4 2009, our inventory was $26.2million,
almost flat compared to the prior quarter despite total
revenues increasing by 34.5%. This demonstrates our
capacity to tightly manage our supply chain.

OPERATIONAL OVERVIEW

Wireless Segment: 

Our design win success with cellphone customers for
Power Management continued in 2009 as we expanded our
customer base to now number more than 10: including
major design wins in smartphones and 3G/HSPA enabled 
cellphones.  Additionally, our 3G/HSPA modem platform
solution and power management technology is also now
being successfully adopted in ebook, netbook and other
convergent portable devices; markets which we believe 
represent new growth areas for Dialog in the future.

Transition of our portfolio to a balance of standard
and custom devices also continued in 2009 where we
launched new standard product families which will
provide us with a platform on which to accelerate
further diversification. These include programmable
power management devices which revolutionize the way
analog designers can design and configure their 
systems. Additionally, we have sampled with customers
the first devices from a family of new ultra low power
audio products which are currently under development,
setting a new benchmark in the industry for lowest
power consumption.

Our Smartxtend(TM) passive matrix OLED developments
remain on track for industry adoption within the
portable device and cellphone markets. In 2009, we
continued to develop the technology and, by the end of
Q4 2009, had sampled our first optimised product with
our OLED module partners for product development and
evaluation.  This technology delivers a strong value
proposition over traditional TFT LCD displays and
competing active matrix OLED technologies. Dialog also
maintains its early leadership in e-paper/e-ink display
based products, winning designs during the year in 
innovative portable applications.

We continue to execute on our strategy to strengthen
technology leadership and in February 2010 - post year
end - we purchased complimentary power management
technology from Diodes Zetex GmbH. As part of this
transaction, Dialog has also acquired specific Diodes
intellectual property rights and an employee team
located in Munich, Germany.

Automotive and Industrial Segment: 

2009 was a difficult year for our Automotive and
Industrial segment, with the global economic crisis
having a marked effect on the automotive industry,
affecting sharply our automotive revenue early in the
year.  However, some pick-up did begin to take place
later in the year and our shipments recovered to near
historical levels.  This is a dynamic we see continuing
into 2010.

The transition to increasing use of energy saving
lighting, including LEDs, is also providing an
opportunity for Dialog to further build on its existing
lighting business for the future. To capitalize on this 
opportunity, during 2009 we announced a joint
development centre in Austria with TridonicAtco - a
leader in lighting.

Additionally, to support the increasingly popular
Intel(R) Atom(TM) processors, we provide very high
integrated power management and clocking companion
devices for Automotive Infotainment and Embedded
Industrial processor applications. During 2009, we
shipped the first samples and announced a strategic
partnership with Harman Becker who will use our 
products in their automotive infotainment systems.

OUTLOOK

The first quarter of 2010 has started strongly across
all of Dialog's business areas and, for the full year,
we expect our revenue profile will broadly follow the
consumer seasonal trends we have seen in prior years.
Industry analysts predict that the semiconductor
market will grow in 2010, with the rate of growth
dependent upon how quickly consumer confidence and the
broader macro-economic environment recover: something
which is still unclear.  Overall, despite this market
uncertainty, we remain confident in our ability to grow
our revenue faster than the market in the year ahead 
and to deliver a successful result for 2010.

                                - // -

Dialog Semiconductor invites you today at 10:00 CET/
09:00 UK to listen in a live conference call to
managements discussion of Q4 2009 and full year 2009
performance. To access the call, please use the
following dial-in numbers: Germany +49 (0)
6103-485-3002, UK +44-207-153-2027, USA 
+1-480-629-9726, with no access code required.  An
instant replay facility will be available for 30 days
after the call and can be accessed at +49-6958-999-0568
with access code 142537#.  An audio replay of the 
conference call will also be posted soon thereafter on
the company's website at:

http://www.diasemi.com/investor_relations.php

Additional information to this adhoc release including
the company's consolidated income statement,
consolidated balance sheet, consolidated statements of
cash flows and selected notes for the period ending 31 
December 2009 is available under the investor
relations section of the Company's web site.

For further information please contact:

Dialog Semiconductor       FD - London           FD -
Frankfurt Neue Straße 95             Matt Dixon        
   Claudine Schaetzle D-73230 Kirchheim/Teck     T +44
20 7269 7214    T  +49 69 920 37 185 Germany           
        matt.dixon@fd.com    
claudine.schaetzle@fd.com  T +49-7021-805-412 
F +49-7021-805-200 
dialog@fd.com 
www.dialog-semiconductor.com 

Information about Dialog Semiconductor:

Dialog Semiconductor creates energy-efficient, highly
integrated, mixed-signal circuits optimised for
personal mobile, lighting & display and automotive
applications. The company provides flexible and
dynamic support, world-class innovation and the
assurance of dealing with an established business
partner.

With its focus and expertise in system power
management, Dialog brings decades of experience to the
rapid development of integrated circuits for power
management, audio, display processing and motor
control. Dialog's processor companion chips enhance
both the performance of hand-held products and the
consumers' multimedia experience. With world-class 
manufacturing partners, Dialog operates a fabless
business model.

Dialog Semiconductor plc is headquartered near
Stuttgart with a global sales, R&D and marketing
organisation. In 2009, it had $218 million in revenue
and was one of the fastest growing European public
semiconductor companies. It currently has approximately
340 employees. The company is listed on the Frankfurt
(FWB: DLG) stock exchange.

Forward Looking Statements:

This press release contains 'forward-looking
statements' that reflect management's current views
with respect to future events. The words 'anticipate,'
'believe,' 'estimate, 'expect,' 'intend,' 'may,'
'plan,' 'project' and 'should' and similar expressions
identify forward-looking statements. Such statements
are subject to risks and uncertainties, including, but
not limited to: an economic downturn in the
semiconductor and telecommunications markets; changes
in currency exchange rates and interest rates, the
timing of customer orders and manufacturing lead times, 
insufficient, excess or obsolete inventory, the impact
of competing products and their pricing, political
risks in the countries in which we operate or sale and
supply constraints. If any of these or other risks and 
uncertainties occur (some of which are described under
the heading 'Risks and their management' in Dialog
Semiconductor's most recent Annual Report) or if the
assumptions underlying any of these statements prove
incorrect, then actual results may be materially
different from those expressed or implied by such
statements. We do not intend or assume any obligation
to update any forward-looking statement which speaks
only as of the date on which it is made, however, any
subsequent statement will supersede any previous
statement.

11.02.2010 Ad hoc announcement, Financial News and
Media Release distributed by DGAP.
Media archive at www.dgap-medientreff.de and
www.dgap.de 

-------------------------------------------------------
 

-------------------------------------------------------