
Radio frequency tech specialist Filtronic has significantly boosted revenue and profitability as its relationship with Elon Musk’s SpaceX continues to strengthen.
First half results for the Sedgefield-based firm, which also has operations near Leeds and Cambridge, show revenue grew to £25.6m in the six months to the end of November 2024, compared with £8.5m in the same period the year before. Operating profit was £6.8m during the period, following a £400,000 first half loss in 2024.
Filtronic told investors there is still further growth potential in the low earth orbit market – which is projected to be worth $310bn by 2031 – and has hinted that further collaboration with SpaceX could be in the pipeline, amid the firm’s work on components for the Starlink constellation. Last year’s agreement with SpaceX, which gave the US rocket giant options to acquire a stake in Filtronic, has led to a series of multimillion-dollar orders, and brought about expansion at Filtronic’s NETPark home in County Durham.
Having installed two new production lines in the North East and opened a new design centre in Cambridge, the firm says it is looking to ramp up output. That comes ahead of a move into larger premises at NETPark later this year.
In the next year, Filtronic expects to complete a project with the European Space Agency which will bring revenues in 2026. Other customers Almagest Space Corporation and XDLINX Space Labs have also taken the firm’s mmWave technology into space.
Jonathan Neale, Filtronic chairman, said: “We are pleased to communicate these strong set of interim results. Robust order intake has resulted in the improved revenue and profit outlook in H2 which we communicated in market upgrades in December 2024 and January 2025. Investing in the business to underpin the orderbook has been timely and effective and we look forward to being able to communicate more about the next financial year as things develop during H2.”
He added: “We have an exciting technology roadmap, developing semiconductor and passive technologies in the millimetre-wave spectrum for both the ground station, payload and platform systems and components. These are supported by leading edge global semiconductor foundry technologies. The developments relating to these are progressing well and we still expect to deliver against critical timelines.
“We continue our aim to deliver increased output from our existing operational facilities and production resources. To meet the strong demand, we successfully introduced two new production lines during the period to give further flexibility and enable further conversion of new business. As we move to larger premises at our headquarters in Sedgefield, County Durham, later this year we expect to see further gains to capacity and efficiency.”
Original artice – https://business-live.co.uk/all-about/yorkshire-humber