Infineon headquarter is pictured before the annual results news conference in Munich, Germany, November 15, 2023. REUTERS/Michaela Rehle/File Photo
BERLIN (Reuters) -German chipmaker Infineon said on Tuesday that it expected "subdued" performance in 2025, citing weak demand in its end markets.
"With the exception of artificial intelligence, our end markets are currently offering hardly any growth impetus and the cyclical recovery is delayed," said CEO Jochen Hanebeck. "We are therefore preparing for a subdued business performance in 2025."
The company warned of another slight revenue decline in the current financial year, after revenue fell by 8% to 14.96 billion euros ($15.90 billion) in its 2023-24 financial year.
In August, Infineon narrowed its annual revenue guidance to around 15 billion euros, having already twice lowered it.
The segment result margin - management's preferred measure of operating profitability - is expected to deteriorate from 20.8% to between 15% and just below 20% in 2024-25, according to a statement.
For the financial year ending in September, the chipmaker posted fourth-quarter revenue of 3.919 billion euros, broadly in line with the 4 billion forecast in a company-provided consensus.
Operating expenses of 220 million euros in 2023-24 were mainly attributable to Infineon's "Step Up" cost savings programme, which the company said it would continue to implement in order to strengthen competitiveness.
Unveiled in August, the programme foresees 1,400 job cuts and the relocation of a further 1,400 positions to countries with lower labour costs.
Infineon's results are broadly in line with rivals, with Intel posting a quarterly revenue drop last month as losses mounted at its contract manufacturing business.
NXP Semiconductors NV forecast fourth-quarter revenue below estimates earlier this month, anticipating uncertain demand and broader macroeconomic weakness in Europe and the Americas.
($1 = 0.9407 euros)
(Reporting by Hakan Ersen, Writing by Friederike Heine, Editing by Rachel More and Shri Navaratnam)
