AZ Electronic Materials reported a drop in both revenue and profit for the year ended December 31st, hit by a challenging economic and business environment.

Revenue at the speciality chemical materials group fell 3% at constant currency to $730.3m, pushing pre-tax profit down 13% to $102.4m. Basic earnings per share slumped 19% from 21.9 cents to 15.1 cents.

The weaknesses in the Japanese Yen during 2013 accounted for a "substantial" part of the reduction in reported year-on-year revenues, AZ said.

The group explained that a solid performance by the Optronics division was offset by weak IC Materials revenue, which were hit by dual sourcing pressures and efficiency-related dispense-volume reductions, both in relation to AZ's dielectric materials.

Looking ahead, the company said it anticipated a continuation of the challenging trading conditions in the near-term, with industry analysts and customers suggesting a slightly improved environment for industry growth during the second half of the year as end market demand improves.

"We are encouraged by our customers' investments in new leading edge technologies, and are pleased to report further progress on the development of new and enabling materials with our key customers in both IC Niche and Optronics," it added.

Net debt was down 13% at $251.9m from $289.4m a year earlier.

The share price edged 0.13% higher to 394.50p at 09:56 Tuesday.

NR

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