The chip manufacturer Infineon has had a strong year. In 2024, however, progress will probably be a little slower because industry and consumers are holding back.
After a strong year with strong growth and high profits, Infineon is expecting a somewhat weaker phase. The bottom line is that the semiconductor company made a profit of around 3.1 billion euros in the 2022/23 financial year, as it announced on Wednesday, which was almost a billion more than in the previous year. Sales also rose sharply by 15 percent to a record value of 16.3 billion euros.
Infineon will probably not be able to repeat these increases this year. “All in all, we expect further, albeit lower, sales growth for the 2024 financial year,” said CEO Jochen Hanebeck. The expected sales range is 16.5 to 17.5 billion euros. Infineon did not provide any forecast for profit after tax, but the profit margin is expected to be slightly lower than last year.
The current market situation is mixed at the moment, said Hanebeck, who spoke of a “challenging environment”. Things are going well with mobility and renewable energies, but industry and consumers are rather cautious. The cyclical sequence of different growth phases is nothing unusual, he emphasized. “And we know how to deal with it as a company.”
Hanebeck still believes that the current large investments in Kulim, Malaysia, and Dresden, Saxony, are the right thing to do. Even when the company recently invested in the plant in Villach, Austria, there were questions as to whether it was the right thing to do. But when it was finished, customers ripped the products out of Infineon’s hands. Kulim will only be able to contribute to sales in 2025, Dresden in 2026. By then, the current market weakness will be “clearly behind us”. Infineon’s figures were well received on the stock market. At lunchtime, the company’s shares were well up and were one of the biggest winners in the Dax.
Source: Stern
