Actions Semiconductor Reports Third Quarter 2011 Results

ZHUHAI, China, November 9, 2011 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- Actions Semiconductor Co., Ltd. (Nasdaq: ACTS), one of China's leading fabless semiconductor companies that provides comprehensive mixed-signal system-on-a-chip (SoC) and multimedia digital signal processing (DSP) solutions for portable consumer electronics, today reported its financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2011.

All financial results are reported on a U.S. GAAP basis.

Revenue for the third quarter of 2011 increased 46% to $15.3 million, as compared to revenue of $10.5 million for the second quarter of 2011, and 65% from the third quarter of 2010 revenue of $9.3 million.

Net income attributable to Actions Semiconductor's shareholders for the third quarter of 2011 was $2.6 million or $0.04 per ADS. This compares to net income attributable to Actions Semiconductor's shareholders of $0.5 million or $0.007 per ADS, for the second quarter of 2011, and net income attributable to Actions Semiconductor's shareholders of $1.9 million or $0.03 per ADS, for the third quarter of 2010.

During the third quarter of 2011, Actions recorded an impairment charge of $888 thousand for goodwill and in-process R&D technology related to the acquisition of Mavrix Technologies in August 2010.

Actions Semiconductor reported gross margin of 40.6% for the third quarter of 2011, compared to gross margin of 37.9% for the second quarter of 2011, and 40.1% for the third quarter of 2010. The Company ended the third quarter of 2011 with $70.7 million in cash and cash equivalents. Trading securities, and marketable securities, current and non-current, were $152.1 million at the end of the third quarter.

Since the share repurchase program commenced in 2007, the Company has invested approximately $40.2 million in repurchasing its shares. As of September 30, 2011, approximately 17.1 million American Depositary Shares (ADSs) were repurchased.

"Despite a challenging operating environment for many semiconductor companies, Actions delivered better than expected results for the third quarter," stated Niccolo Chen, CEO of Actions Semiconductor. "Strong demand for our products across a number of end markets, especially in our fast growing, automotive/boom box product category, resulted in 46% sequential growth in revenue and increased profitability. We saw an improvement in our average selling prices during the quarter as our product mix shifted to include more high end products such as our MP4 products targeting gaming applications. We continued to enjoy leading market share in key markets such as small color display and QVGA MP4 products. We began shipping commercial volumes of our high definition products during the quarter and we are pleased with the overall market acceptance of our products targeting the high end markets.

"As we head into the fourth quarter, like many semiconductor companies, we will manage our business for a cautious demand environment," concluded Mr. Chen.

Business Outlook

The following statements are based upon management's current expectations. These statements are forward-looking, and actual results may differ materially. The Company undertakes no obligation to update these statements.

For the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2011 ending December 31, 2011, Actions Semiconductor estimates revenue in the range of $12 to $13 million, gross margin of approximately 40% and operating expenses higher on a sequential basis.

Conference Call Details

Actions Semiconductor's third quarter 2011 teleconference and webcast is scheduled to begin at 5:30 p.m. Eastern Time, on Tuesday, November 8, 2011. To participate in the live call, analysts and investors should dial 877-941-4774 (within U.S.) or 480-629-9760 (outside U.S.) at least ten minutes prior to the call. Actions Semiconductor will also offer a live and archived webcast of the conference call, accessible from the "Investor Relations" section of the company's website at www.actions-semi.com. An audio replay of the call will be available to investors through November 19, 2011 by dialing 800-406-7325 (within U.S.) or 303-590-3030 (outside U.S.) and entering access code 4483427.

About Actions Semiconductor

Actions Semiconductor is one of China's leading fabless semiconductor companies that provides mixed-signal and multimedia SoC solutions for portable consumer electronics. Actions Semiconductor products include SoCs, firmware, software, solution development kits, as well as detailed specifications of other required components. Actions Semiconductor also provides total product and technology solutions that allow customers to quickly introduce new portable consumer electronics to the mass market in a cost effective way. The company is headquartered in Zhuhai, China, with offices in Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen. For more information, please visit the Actions Semiconductor website at http://www.actions-semi.com.

"Safe Harbor" Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995

Statements contained in this release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements, as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements include statements concerning signs of positive indicators in the industry for next year, growth in the market driven by continued proliferation of applications within the PMP market and incremental rebound of overall demand for these products, Actions Semiconductor's belief that it is positioned to capture some upside from these trends, and Actions Semiconductor's future expectations with respect to revenue, gross margin, operating expenses and share-based compensation expense. Actions Semiconductor uses words like "believe," "anticipate," "intend," "estimate," "expect," "project" and similar expressions to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these words. These forward-looking statements are estimates reflecting current assumptions, expectations and projections about future events and involve significant risks, both known and unknown, uncertainties and other factors that may cause Actions Semiconductor's actual performance, financial condition or results of operations to be materially different from those suggested by the forward-looking statements including, among others, customers' cancellation or modification of their orders; our failure to accurately forecast demand for our products; the loss of, or a significant reduction in orders from, any of our significant customers; fluctuations in our operating results; our inability to develop and sell new products; defects in or failures of our products; the expense and uncertainty involved in our customer design-win efforts; the financial viability of the distributors of our products; consumer demand; worldwide economic and political conditions; fluctuations in our costs to manufacture our products; our reliance on third parties to manufacture, test, assemble and ship our products; our ability to retain and attract key personnel; our ability to compete with our competitors; and our ability to protect our intellectual property rights and not infringe the intellectual property rights of others. Other factors that may cause our actual results to differ from those set forth in the forward-looking statements contained in this press release and that may affect our prospects in general are described in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our most recently filed Forms F-1, 20-F and 6-Ks. Other unknown or unpredictable factors also could have material adverse effects on Actions Semiconductor's future results, performance or achievements. In light of these risks, uncertainties, assumptions and factors, the forward-looking events discussed in this press release may not occur. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date stated, or if no date is stated, as of the date of this press release. Except as required by law, Actions Semiconductor undertakes no obligation and does not intend to update or revise any forward-looking statement to reflect subsequent events or changed assumptions or circumstances.