WILSONVILLE, Ore. — (BUSINESS WIRE) — August 23, 2012 — Mentor Graphics Corporation (NASDAQ: MENT) today announced financial results for the company’s fiscal second quarter ended July 31, 2012. The company reported revenue of $240.8 million, non-GAAP earnings per share of $.21, and GAAP earnings per share of $.16. During the quarter, the company continued its share buy-back, repurchasing 1.4 million shares for $20 million. Since the first fiscal quarter of 2012, the company has repurchased 8.2 million shares for $110 million.

“Revenues and earnings were an all-time record for a second quarter, and bookings were at the second highest level for any second quarter in company history,” said Walden C. Rhines, chairman and CEO of Mentor Graphics. “Like the whole electronic design automation industry, Mentor is benefiting from the transition to 20nm and 28nm which is driving significant design activity and resultant software demand. Additionally, the company’s investments in system design, and non-traditional electronic design automation markets like embedded software, helped produce the strong results in the quarter. We are on track for record revenue and earnings for fiscal year 2013.”

During the quarter, the company announced collaborations with TSMC, GLOBALFOUNDRIES and Samsung in advanced process nodes. Mentor also introduced a GENIVI 2.0-compliant, Linux-based, in-vehicle infotainment solution. The company’s Capital tool suite for transportation electrical systems design was accredited to IBM’s “Ready for IBM Rational” program. Mentor also introduced a unique, general-purpose software solution that combines one-dimensional and three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics—the first result from the merged technologies made possible by the recent acquisition of Flowmaster Ltd.

“We are pleased with our performance this quarter, beating our guidance by four cents. With continued focus on cost controls, 55% of incremental year-over-year revenues dropped through to operating income,” said Gregory K. Hinckley, president of Mentor Graphics. “A weak euro, a weak rupee, and a strong yen worked to our advantage. We reaffirm revenue guidance of $1.1 billion and are raising our earnings estimate.”

Outlook

For the full fiscal year 2013, the company reaffirms that it expects revenues of about $1.1 billion, and raises the outlook for non-GAAP earnings per share by $0.01 to approximately $1.38, and GAAP earnings per share by $0.03 to about $1.23. For the third fiscal quarter 2013, the company expects revenues of about $265 million, non-GAAP earnings per share of about $0.28, and GAAP earnings per share of approximately $0.23.

Fiscal Year Definition

Mentor Graphics’ fiscal year runs from February 1 to January 31. The fiscal year is dated by the calendar year in which the fiscal year ends. As a result, the first three fiscal quarters of any fiscal year will be dated with the next calendar year, rather than the current calendar year.

Discussion of Non-GAAP Financial Measures

Mentor Graphics’ management evaluates and makes operating decisions using various performance measures. In addition to our GAAP results, we also consider adjusted gross margin, operating margin, net income (loss), and earnings (loss) per share which we refer to as non-GAAP gross margin, operating margin, net income (loss), and earnings (loss) per share, respectively. These non-GAAP measures are derived from the revenues of our product, maintenance, and services business operations and the costs directly related to the generation of those revenues, such as cost of revenue, research and development, sales and marketing, and general and administrative expenses, that management considers in evaluating our ongoing core operating performance. These non-GAAP measures exclude amortization of intangible assets, special charges, equity plan-related compensation expenses, interest expense attributable to net retirement premiums or discounts on the early retirement of debt and associated debt issuance costs, interest expense associated with the amortization of debt discount and premium on convertible debt, and the equity in income (loss) of unconsolidated entities (except Frontline PCB Solutions Limited Partnership (Frontline)), which management does not consider reflective of our core operating business.

Management excludes from our non-GAAP measures certain recurring items to facilitate its review of the comparability of our core operating performance on a period-to-period basis because such items are not related to our ongoing core operating performance as viewed by management. Management considers our core operating performance to be that which can be affected by our managers in any particular period through their management of the resources that affect our underlying revenue and profit generating operations during that period. Management uses this view of our operating performance for purposes of comparison with our business plan and individual operating budgets and allocation of resources. Additionally, when evaluating potential acquisitions, management excludes the items described above from its consideration of target performance and valuation. More specifically, management adjusts for the excluded items for the following reasons:

• Identified intangible assets consist primarily of purchased technology, backlog, trade names, and customer relationships. Amortization charges for our intangible assets can vary in frequency and amount due to the timing and magnitude of acquisition transactions. We consider our operating results without these charges when evaluating our core performance due to the variability. Generally, the most significant impact to inter-period comparability of our net income (loss) is in the first twelve months following an acquisition.
• Special charges primarily consist of restructuring costs incurred for employee terminations, including severance and benefits, driven by modifications of business strategy or business emphasis. Special charges may also include expenses incurred related to potential acquisitions, excess facility costs, and asset-related charges. Special charges are incurred based on the particular facts and circumstances of acquisition and restructuring decisions and can vary in size and frequency. These charges are excluded as they are not ordinarily included in our annual operating plan and related budget due to the unpredictability of economic trends and the rapidly changing technology and competitive environment in our industry. We therefore exclude them when evaluating our managers' performance internally.
• Equity plan-related compensation expenses represent the fair value of all share-based payments to employees, including grants of employee stock options and restricted stock units. We do not consider equity plan-related compensation expense in evaluating our manager’s performance internally or our core operations in any given period.
• Interest expense attributable to net retirement premiums or discounts on the early retirement of debt, the write-off of associated debt issuance costs and the amortization of the debt discount and premium on convertible debt are excluded. Management does not consider these charges as a part of our core operating performance. The early retirement of debt and the associated debt issuance costs are not included in our annual operating plan and related budget due to unpredictability of market conditions which could facilitate an early retirement of debt. We do not consider the amortization of the debt discount and premium on convertible debt to be a direct cost of operations.