Trading Statement

Filtronic PLC
7 December 1999

                                    
                                FILTRONIC PLC:
                               Trading Statement
                                       
Ahead of the announcement of interim results due on 31 January 2000, Professor
J.  David  Rhodes,  OBE  FRS FREng, Executive Chairman, issued  the  following
statement on current trading activity and business developments.

'Substantial resources are being devoted to ensure the successful  development
of  gallium  arsenide semiconductor capability at our new facility  at  Newton
Aycliffe. All aspects of this project are proceeding to time scale and in line
with  budgeted  costs. Further engineering developments have  taken  place  in
connection  with  the Radio Frequency integrated front end module  for  mobile
handsets  and  this unique concept is now being actively promoted  with  three
major handset manufacturers.

As  I  stated  in  August, our USA Wireless Infrastructure business  had  been
incurring losses due to the then incumbent management's failure to respond  to
roll  out  delays  associated with the new types of CDMA  equipment.  European
management  was  transferred  to Filtronic Comtek,  Inc.  and  they  have  now
successfully  implemented  a  radical plan to return  our  USA  subsidiary  to
profitability. Nevertheless, first half losses at Filtronic Comtek,  Inc.  are
likely to be greater than expected.

In  August, I also stated 'The slow start to the new year for the US  Wireless
Infrastructure business will mean that results for the whole company  will  be
even more strongly weighted towards the second half of the financial year than
normal.'  Following substantial reductions in operating costs  implemented  by
the  new  management  and  based  upon  current  customer  programmes,  it  is
anticipated  that Filtronic Comtek, Inc. will produce strong  results  in  the
second half of this financial year.

Additionally,  our  business  at Filtronic Solid State  in  California,  which
includes   millimetre   wave   point  to  point  transceivers   for   Wireless
Infrastructure, semiconductors and electronic warfare components, continues to
trade at a loss due to low levels of demand.

These  loss  making  activities  have had a material  effect  on  the  overall
performance  of  Filtronic  plc  during the  first  half,  causing  the  group
operating  profit to be between three and four million pounds at  the  interim
stage.

When  considering prospects for the second half of the financial year,  it  is
particularly important to understand the current position with regard  to  the
roll  out of new CDMA equipment, including, specifically, that for the Chinese
market where substantial CDMA infrastructure activity has been anticipated for
several months.

Since  last month's provisional agreement between China and the USA on China's
membership of the World Trade Organisation, substantial activity has  occurred
within  the  major North American Original Equipment Manufacturers  (OEMs)  so
that  they can respond to formal tender documents, due to be issued this week,
by   the  Chinese  operator,  China  Unicom,  for  a  new  CDMA  system.   The
corresponding contracts are expected to be awarded before the end  of  January
2000  with rapid deployment of base stations occurring by the end of the first
quarter of calendar year 2000. It is anticipated that these contracts will  be
placed   with  three  OEMs  whose  ability  to  meet  these  rapid  deployment
requirements  will  be a critical deciding factor to China Unicom.  Therefore,
the  North  American  OEMs are particularly well positioned  to  secure  these
contracts.

Due  to  the frequency allocations of the CDMA systems in China being adjacent
to  those of the GSM systems, stringent filtering requirements have to be met.
Filtronic's advanced technology and engineering capability has placed us in  a
very strong position to provide the appropriate product for these Chinese CDMA
applications.

Filtronic Comtek, Inc. is bringing forward the production of equipment for the
PCS  version  of  our  customer's  CDMA base stations,  which  was  originally
scheduled  for the final quarter of this financial year, in order to  maximise
production capacity for the Chinese contract.

The Chinese CDMA contract is likely to be worth tens of millions of dollars to
Filtronic  in  orders  for delivery in the first half of calendar  year  2000.
Consequently, due to its magnitude and timing, this contract will have a  very
significant effect on the performance of Filtronic Comtek, Inc. and  therefore
upon  our expectations for the results of Filtronic plc for the financial year
ending 31 May 2000.

For  Filtronic  plc, should the China Unicom CDMA contract awards  proceed  as
anticipated  above, then the results for the current full financial  year  are
likely  at least to meet market expectations.  However, should no business  at
all  result  from the China Unicom CDMA contracts in the second  half  of  the
current  financial year, then for the full financial year ending 31 May  2000,
operating profit before the amortisation of goodwill and prior to charging any
of  the  costs  associated  with Newton Aycliffe is unlikely  to  exceed  that
reported for the year ended 31 May 1999 (£24.4m).

Our  European and Australian Wireless Infrastructure businesses, which address
the  global GSM infrastructure market, continue to trade strongly and at least
in  line with budget. Although our principal European customers are limited to
two  major  OEMs  for GSM products they supply many operators world-wide  with
similar product offerings, in contrast to the USA CDMA market, enabling us  to
predict overall demand more accurately.

Our Cellular Handset Products business continues to trade ahead of budget. New
demand  for  CDMA  ceramic  filters  and diplexers  for  two  leading  handset
manufacturers  increases  the positive outlook. As previously  indicated,  the
financial performance of our Electronic Warfare business will also be  heavily
weighted  towards  the second half of the financial year. Our  Cable  activity
remains small but is trading slightly ahead of our expectations.

In  summary,  the  outlook  for  Filtronic  plc  remains  extremely  promising
although,  as  we have stressed since our flotation in 1994,  the  timing  and
scale  of  certain customer programmes in the Wireless Infrastructure business
can cause significant fluctuations in short term trading performance'


Professor J. David Rhodes, OBE FRS FREng, Executive Chairman


Enquiries:
John Samuel, Finance Director
Chris Schofield, Director and Company Secretary
Filtronic plc
Tel: [phone]


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