Mentor’s Quarterly Sales and Profits Jump
Mentor Graphics Corp. reported revenues of $250.5 million in its fiscal third quarter ended Oct. 31, compared to $238.9 million in the like period a year ago.
Mentor reported a net of $24.1 million, or $0.22 a share, in the period, compared to $15.3 million, or $0.14 a share, a year ago.
Walden Rhines, chairman and CEO of Mentor Graphics, attributed the growth to the push towards 28nm and 20nm designs, which require EDA tools for reticle enhancement techniques (RETs). Automotive and embedded design tool sales were also strong in the quarter, he said during a conference call.
“Bookings were again a record, up over 20 percent from the previous third quarter record, and for the second consecutive year our book-to-bill through the third quarter is positive,” he said. ”This quarter saw the beginning of the strength we predicted in our Design to Silicon category for the second half, with bookings in the third quarter up year-on-year by over 55 percent, and by about 15 percent year to date.”
Going forward, Mentor is bucking the trend. “We see no weakening” despite the current IC or economic slowdown, he said.
Gregory Hinckley, president of Mentor Graphics, said: “Leading indicators for the business continued to be strong, with third quarter support declines down and consulting and training bookings doubling. Annual fees for renewing contracts in the top ten transactions were up 40 percent over their prior annual fees. Base business, contracts below $1 million in value that booked and billed in the quarter, grew 15 percent over last year.”
For the fourth quarter, the company expects revenues of about $316 million, non-GAAP earnings per share of approximately $0.50, and GAAP earnings per share of $0.46.
For the full fiscal year, ending Jan. 31, 2012, the company expects revenues of $1.01 billion, non-GAAP earnings per share of $1.05, and GAAP earnings per share of $0.69.
