National Semiconductor Profit Down as Sales Decline

Chipmaker National Semiconductor said Thursday its fiscal first-quarter profit declined amid lower sales, though results improved sequentially, driven by growth in wireless mobile devices.

For the quarter ended Aug. 26, the company earned $85.6 million, or 30 cents per share, down 29% from $120.1 million, or 35 cents per share, in the same period a year earlier.

The latest quarter's results included a $3.1 million pretax gain from a property sale in Singapore and a $1.5 million credit related to a vacant lease buyout.

Sales fell 13% to $471.5 million from $541.4 million.

Analysts, on average, were expecting a profit of 25 cents per share on sales of $467.4 million, according to a poll by Thomson Financial.

"Our growth this quarter was driven by highly featured wireless mobile devices, where energy efficiency is critical and happens to be the strong suit of our portfolio," said Brian L. Halla, chairman and chief executive, in a statement.

Shares rose 13 cents to $26.63 in after-market trade.