Chip tester TransEDA floating nicely

Newly floated chip tester, TransEDA has made its investors very happy yesterday as its shares pole-vaulted from their start value of 50p to an impressive 83.5p. This valued the company at £42 million and made a paper profit of 67 per cent for investors allocated shares in the company.

TransEDA develops software used by lots of big names to test new chip designs. Clients include IBM and ARM Holdings.

Enthusiasm for the company was almost certainly bolstered by the fact that although it is still loss making, its turnover exceeds the loss by quite some margin. In fact losing £3,000 on sales of £4 million can be regarded as positively glowing in the technology sector, where we are used to the figures being the other way around.

The company says that the worldwide market in its sector was $43 million in 1999, but that it is growing at over 70 per cent per year. Since 1995, TransEDA has also averaged about 70 per cent growth. ®