Belgium's Melexis forecasts Q3 sales in line with expectations

By Nathan Vifflin

(Reuters) - Melexis, Belgium's largest semiconductor supplier, forecast third-quarter sales in line with expectations on Wednesday after second-quarter sales marginally beat estimates, driven by demand for premium automotive equipment.

The company, which supplies mostly to automotive customers, reported sales rose 4% year-on-year to 245.7 million euros ($266 million) in the second quarter, slightly ahead of the 244.2 million expected by analysts in a company-provided poll.

Its earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) margin reached 26.2% in the period, also beating analysts' expectations of 24.7%, per the company-provided poll.

"Growth was mainly driven by applications outside the powertrain," CEO Marc Biron said in a statement.

He added that the trend was set to continue, with applications in the premium segment making their way faster into smaller vehicles and features such as advanced climate control and ambient lighting becoming more widespread.

Melexis expects current-quarter sales of 247 million to 252 million euros, while analysts had, on average, estimated 251.8 million euros, according to LSEG data.

The company confirmed its full-year guidance for sales at around 1 billion euros.

It said it would pay an interim dividend of 1.3 euros per share. ($1 = 0.9241 euros)

(Reporting by Nathan Vifflin; Editing by Himani Sarkar and Savio D'Souza)