Wolfson price plummet as boss dumps shares

Published on Friday 14 November 2008 08:51

THE chairman of Westfield-based chip manufacturer Wolfson Microelectronics has dumped £77,000 worth of shares, sending its share price plummeting.

Michael Ruettgers sold 100,000 shares at 77p per share on Wednesday – leading to concern among investors.

Shares in Wolfson fell four per cent immediately after the news was revealed, and a further 2.75p to 73.25p yesterday.

It has seen its value marked down significantly since it hit the heights of 469p in September 2006.

After the sale, Mr Ruettgers' holding was slimmed down to 600,000 ordinary shares, representing 0.52 per cent of the company's issued share capital.

Wolfson makes microchips for mobile phones, MP3 players, including iPods, PlayStations and satnav systems, as well as the Apple iPhone.

Last month, the company issued this year's second profits warning.

In the three months to the end of September, pre-tax profits fell to 8.3 million, compared to 9.4m in the third quarter of 2007, while revenues dipped from 45.1m to 38.7m.

The company has previously cited the reduction in sales of chips for media players and satnav devices as the main factor for its decline.

Earlier this year, it said that it had suffered a blow after a major customer, reported to have been Apple, chose not to use it products for its new media player.