Actel Announces Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year Results

Mountain View, Calif. - January 22, 2004 – Actel Corporation (NASDAQ: ACTL) today announced net revenues of $40.6 million for the fourth quarter of 2003, up 19 percent from the fourth quarter of 2002 and 6 percent from the third quarter of 2003. For the full fiscal year, net revenues were $149.9 million, up 12 percent from fiscal 2002.

Pro-forma net income, which excludes acquisition-related amortization and other non-operating items, was $3.0 million for the fourth quarter of 2003, up 110 percent from the fourth quarter of 2002 and 15 percent sequentially. Pro-forma earnings were $0.11 per diluted share compared with $0.06 for the fourth quarter of 2002 and $0.10 for the third quarter of 2003. Pro-forma net income was $8.5 million, or $0.32 per diluted share, for the full fiscal year compared with $6.4 million, or $0.25 per diluted share, for fiscal 2002. This represents an increase of 32 percent.

Including all amortization and other costs in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), Actel reported net income of $2.3 million, or $0.09 per diluted share, for the fourth quarter of 2003 compared with a net loss of $1.8 million, or ($0.08) per share, for the fourth quarter of 2002 and $2.3 million, or $0.08 per diluted share, for the third quarter of 2003. Net income in accordance with GAAP was $6.2 million, or $0.24 per share, for the full fiscal year compared with $0.1 million, or $0.00 per diluted share, for fiscal 2002.

Gross margin was 62.2 percent for the fourth quarter of 2003 compared with 60.4 percent for the fourth quarter of 2002 and 60.7 percent for the third quarter of 2003. Gross margin was 60.2 percent for the full fiscal year compared with 60.6 percent for fiscal 2002.

John East, president and CEO, stated, “I’m glad that we showed growth in revenues and profits during 2003, but I’m really excited about the level of design activity we saw during the year, especially with respect to our flash offering.”

Business Outlook – First Quarter 2004
The company believes that first quarter revenues will grow sequentially in the 2% to 5% range. Gross margin is expected to be about 61%. Operating expenses are anticipated to come in at approximately $22.4 million. Other income is expected to be about $0.8 million. The tax rate for the quarter is anticipated to be about 17%. Share count is expected to be approximately 27.8 million shares.

A conference call to discuss fourth quarter results will be held today at 2:30 p.m. Pacific Time. A live web cast and replay of the call will be available. Web cast and replay access information as well as financial and other statistical information can be found on Actel’s web site, http://www.actel.com. In addition, the company expects to issue a press release providing a financial update during the second week of March.

Financial tables
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Actel Corporation is a supplier of innovative programmable logic solutions, including FPGAs based on antifuse and flash technologies, high-performance intellectual property (IP) cores, software development tools and design services, targeted for the high-speed communications, application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) replacement and radiation-tolerant markets. Founded in 1985, Actel employs approximately 540 people worldwide. The Company is traded on the Nasdaq National Market under the symbol ACTL and is headquartered at 2061 Stierlin Court, Mountain View, CA 94043-4655. Telephone: 888-99-ACTEL (992-2835). Internet: http://www.actel.com.


The statements under the heading “Business Outlook – First Quarter 2004” are forward-looking statements made under the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and should be read with the “Risk Factors” in Actel’s most recent Forms 10-K and 10-Q, which can be found on Actel’s web site, www.actel.com. Actel’s quarterly revenues and operating results are subject to a multitude of risks, including general economic conditions and a variety of risks specific to Actel or characteristic of the semiconductor industry, such as fluctuating demand, intense competition, rapid technological change and related intellectual property and international trade issues, wafer and other supply shortages, and booking and shipment uncertainties. These and the other Risk Factors make it difficult for Actel to accurately project quarterly revenues and operating results, and could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Any failure to meet expectations could cause the price of Actel’s stock to decline significantly.

Editor’s Note: The Actel name and logo are trademarks of Actel Corporation. All other trademarks and servicemarks are the property of their respective owners.