"We are delighted": Yorkshire firm Filtronic secures $20m deal with Elon Musk's SpaceX
Leeds telecommunications firm Filtronic has announced a $20.9m (£16.8m) contract deal with Elon Musk’s SpaceX.
The company, which was founded by Leeds University professor David Rhodes in the 1970s and has an office in Yeadon, designs and manufactures products for the aerospace, defence, space and telecoms infrastructure markets.
The firm already has an existing partnership with SpaceX, announcing in April 2024 an initial £15.8m order for the British firm’s E-band Solid State Power Amplifiers alongside a SpaceX commitment to ongoing orders for the next five years.
Filtronic is supporting the ongoing deployment of SpaceX’s Starlink constellation, which provides high-speed, low-latency internet to users all around the world. SpaceX is one of the world’s largest companies, valued at $350bn in December.
Details of a new contract for Filtronic spanning the next two financial years and worth £16.8m have now been confirmed.
Nat Edington, Chief Executive Officer of Filtronic, said: "We are delighted to have secured this substantial order, which underscores Filtronic's reputation for delivering high-performance RF solutions to our market leading customer.
"This contract, alongside our growing momentum in strategic markets, provides us with increased confidence in our ability to exceed our growth targets for FY2025 and FY2026.”
In a statement to the London Stock Exchange, the company said its board is now confident the business will exceed current market expectations for revenue and profit” as a result of the new SpaceX deal.
Shares in Filtronic were up 12 per cent in early morning trading.
It comes less than a week after Filtronic highlighted its work with SpaceX in its interim results for the six months to November 30, 2024.
It said: “Our strategic partnership with the market leader, SpaceX, continues to strengthen and grow. The success of the relationship has enabled us to deliver at high volume and high quality, working closely with our business and supply chain partners. This achievement has enabled both parties to consider further collaboration following the remarkable success of the Starlink constellation.
"Commercial engagements, not only with SpaceX, have demonstrated to us the relevance of our technology to the wider satellite market serving a multitude of missions.”
It noted that the strategic partnership agreed with SpaceX in April last year includes a share warrant agreement which gives SpaceX the right to acquire 10 per cent of Filtronic’s total share capital.
The company announced revenue of £25.6m in the six-month period – up from £8.5m at the same point the year before.
Operating profit of £6.8m was recorded compared to a £400,000 loss in the previous period.
Jonathan Neale, Chairman, said at the time: "We are pleased to communicate these strong set of interim results. 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.”