BERLIN, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) -- The German semi-conductor producer Infineon has raised its annual forecast on Wednesday after witnessing a boost to quarterly earnings.
Infineon now expects revenue to grow between 6.4 percent and 7.4 percent in the 2017/2018 fiscal year which ends on Sept. 30 for the Neubiberg-based company. An earlier forecast had estimated the range more conservatively at between four and seven percent.
The semi-conductor producer justified its new optimism with stronger-than-expected demand from the increasingly-electrified automotive industry, as well as positive effects on corporate earnings created by the depreciation of the euro against the dollar in the third quarter (Q3) at Infineon.
Gross revenue was measured at 1.94 billion euros (2.27 billion U.S. dollars) in Q3, marking a 6 percent increase compared to the previous quarter. The corporate gross margin grew from 37.1 percent to 38.2 percent during the same period.
"The automotive business is developing well. The market for electric mobility in particular remains a source of growth", chief executive officer (CEO) Reinhard Ploss commented on the development on Wednesday. Ploss added that his company had also experienced "strong demand" for drive systems for industrial machines as well as solutions for battery-powered household and do-it-yourself (DIY) tools.
Infineon has recently-announced that it will open a new facility to produce cutting-edge semi-conductor technology at its existing plant in Villach, Austria. The company plans to invest 1.9 billion euros to manufacture energy-efficient chips used to control current flows in diverse electric-powered devices ranging from trains to laptops.
"We expect further increases in demand from our customers for our products and more and more value-added and integrated solutions", Ploss said on Wednesday. Infineon is listed on the German DAX-exchange and counts among the leading companies in the fast-growing global semi-conductor industry.
In light of the upward trend for its business, Infineon set an ambitious earnings target on Wednesday to achieve revenue growth of at least 10 percent in 2018/2019. Infineon employed around 36,000 staff and recorded gross revenue of 6.4 billion euros in the 2016/2017 fiscal year.
