Semiconductor materials maker IQE's H1 revenue falls about 17 pct

(Adds details on customer destocking, share movement)

July 22 (Reuters) - British semiconductor materials maker IQE Plc said its revenue slid about 17 percent in the first-half of the year, hurt by destocking by customers due to softness in the handset market and a strong pound.

The company's shares fell as much as 10.8 percent to 20.25 pence, making the stock the top percentage loser in early trading on the London Stock Exchange (Other OTC: LDNXF - news) on Tuesday.

IQE, whose products are used in microchips found in smartphones, tablets and GPS equipment, said revenue fell to about 52 million pounds ($88 million) in the six months ended June 30, from 63 million pounds a year earlier.

IQE supplies core wafer technology to companies that in turn supply large customers such as Apple Inc (Sao Paolo: AAPL34.SA - news) and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd.

The company said in a trading update that destocking by several big customers began at the end of 2013 and extended into the early part of 2014, but orders had since improved.

IQE, which gets over 80 percent of its revenue from the United States, said it expected to achieve its full-year forecasts, helped by a pickup in orders related to the rollout of 4G networks in China.

First (Other OTC: FSTC - news) -half earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization rose about 5 percent to 11 million pounds.

($1 = 0.5856 British pounds) (Reporting by Noor Zainab Hussain in Bangalore; Editing by Ted Kerr)