Imagination Tech buys 3D graphics firm for $27 mn

LONDON: Imagination Technologies Group Plc, the British designer of video chips used in Apple Inc's iPhone, is to pay $27 million for Caustic Graphics to help bring cinema-quality 3D graphics to mobile phones.

Imagination also posted a 131 per cent rise in adjusted pretax profit to 10.1 million pounds, on revenue up 16 per cent to 44 million in the six months through October after its partners shipped 107 million of its chips.

The company, which also makes Pure-branded digital radios, said on Tuesday it remained confident of continued good progress and was on track to exceed its target of shipping 200 million chips in the year to end-April 2011.

Chief executive Hossein Yassaie said the group had signed new and extended licensees with chipmakers ranging from Apple and Intel, both shareholders in the business, to Samsung and Fujitsu, keeping it ahead of competition from the likes of ARM Holdings Plc.

"We are doing repeat business with a lot of our customers, we are securing new customers," he said in an interview. "If you look at volume and actual devices shipped, we are talking about 100 million units, and some of our competitors have nothing to show."

Shares in Imagination, which have risen 62 per cent in the last 12 months, were up 4.8 per cent at 376.7 pence by 1012 GMT.

Yassaie said Pure had experienced tough times but had seen improvements since October and initial numbers for Christmas in the UK were looking encouraging.