‘Challenging conditions remain’ at Spirent amid takeover negotiations
West Sussex-based testing and assurance firm Spirent Communications has shared half-year results for the period ended 30 June 2024 as it battles through a ‘challenging’ market.
The company is currently in talks with US giant Keysight Technologies, which outbid rival VIAVI in April to acquire Spirent for $1.5 billion.
The deal is subject to regulatory procedures and is expected to complete during the first half of Keysight’s next fiscal year, between 1 November 2024 and 30 April 2025.
As for Spirent, the firm recently posted six-month revenues of $197 million – down 12 per cent from the same period in 2023 – with a slightly reduced order book of $284 million.
CEO Eric Updyke said: “Performance in the period has been impacted by the ongoing industry-wide slowdown, coupled with some customer hesitancy following the recently announced offer by Keysight.
“We’ve continued to focus on delivering our product roadmaps to serve our customer needs so that we can fully support them as they advance their own R&D investments and plans, which we expect to roll out as the broader sector recovers.
“In addition, we’ve focused on retaining our critical talent at this time of transition.
“In the first half of the year, operating costs benefitted from the restructuring and cost saving initiatives that were delivered during 2023 and early 2024.
“Our diversified portfolio of solutions and services, combined with our robust operating model, means we continue to focus on delivering innovative solutions into new customer segments, while also positioning our business for recovery in our more traditional segments.
“New logo wins for our financial services segment in particular remain very promising, and many product releases in the first half are ensuring that we retain our technology leadership positions.
“We expect challenging market conditions to continue in the second half of 2024, which we anticipate will be reflected in our near-term performance.
“Looking forward beyond the current year, our confidence in 5G as an enduring growth driver remains intact.
“Our market leading products and solutions will promote market opportunities as they open up.”
