“HD is the flavour for just about everyone…there is a big trend upwards towards HDTV”
UK set-top box specialist Pace saw box shipments rise 55 per cent in the first half of this year with HDTV-enabled receivers with built-in hard drives fuelling the growth.
Volumes rose from 1.8 million in the half-year to December 1 2007 to 2.8 million units to June 30. The additional shipments helped push revenues forward 22 per cent to £231m (£190m to Dec 1 2007).
They also signalled a reversal of fortune at its French operation, which in the half-year moved from an anticipated loss, to profit of £2.1m.
Despite the inevitable squeezes on factory-gate prices Pace’s operating margins were up marginally from 20.7 to 21 per cent.
The performance helped profits (before tax and exceptionals) rise from £10.6m (half-year to Dec 1 2007) to £11.2m this year.
The company says it is now working with 17 of the world’s top 25 pay-TV operators, and reported a CAGR of its HD-PVR shipments up 49%.
Pace CEO Neil Gaydon said the company had made strong progress in the first half, building on the performance momentum it has created over the last three years.
“We launched ten new high definition products with customers around the world and improved the overall performance across the group,” he said.
“The business is in good shape to capitalise on growth in our core set-top box business, new markets and new technologies as the world embraces the wide range of digital TV solutions.”
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