Company profiles – Infineon
In 2000, the first year of the report, Infineon’s annual report was written in an euphoric style: The company was “outperforming its industry” and reported EPS of 1.83 versus 10 cents the previous year. The euphoria can be further explained when we take into account more income data (the 10 cents in 1999 were preceded by -1.29, -0.16 and 0.19 in 1996). Revenue growth “outpaced the semiconductor industry. Volker Jung was chairman of the supervisory board, Ulrich Schumacher, chairman of the board of directors.
Although financial analysts still “viewed the company as a traditional memory chip maker, it was moving toward a communication chip.”
Mobile phones and televisions were the market with the highest growth rates. Communication ICs accounted for 25% of revenue, memory chips for about 15%.
The company motto was “never stop thinking”, which remains so: the current website complements it with: never stop learning and developing. “Thinking and learning is not enough, it is only the basis:” the more we think, the more we produce. ” This is related to R&D expenses.
The report featured a long list of partner companies, explaining that “in a world of dog-eat-dog semiconductors, partners are essential.” In 2000, the company partnered with 20 other companies, including AMD and Cisco. “The world changes so fast that together we know more.”
And things changed. Where the company was the leading provider of second-generation mobile phones, it changed enough to enter the restructuring and reorganization program that still continues under President and CEO Dr. Wolfgang Ziebart. During two years of the three-year restructuring (2006 and 2007) the company reported a loss of 0.36 and 0.49 per share. (Annual report 2007).
Like many others, concentrating is the strategy to escape from the situation. This is done by focusing on “businesses that have similar success factors.”
The old memory business has been affected. In 2006, this division was separated by an IPO. The split would not be combined due to “a growing divergence of success factors.” It is not listed on the New York Stock Exchange like Qimonda.
The remaining investment portfolio is concentrated in companies with “an excellent global outlook in terms of market share, innovative capacity and customer access.”
Infineon Technologies is now divided into three sectors, Automotive and Others, Communication and Memory Products. But the most important thing for customers is their dedication: to energy efficiency (air conditioners), communications and security (like cash cards).
Now everything is focused, like the program: “focus on 10”, a program of awareness of the company to achieve a profit margin of 10% of EBIT.
The 2007 reports of a new value system introduced (already added in 2006), but the previous values have not been reported in an annual report. The new values are: we commit, we innovate, we partner and we create value. These are based on the four pillars of infineon: customer focus, operational excellence, profitable growth and collaborative leadership.
On the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, the price is in progress of a recent rally as of this writing: 6.90) from a record low of around 4 euros.
Hans bool