Fourth Quarter Revenue Up 15.9% Year-Over-Year

(PRNewswire) —  Actions Semiconductor Co., Ltd. (Nasdaq: ACTS) ("Actions Semiconductor" or "the Company"), one of China's leading fabless semiconductor companies that provides comprehensive portable multimedia and mobile internet system-on-a-chip (SoC) solutions for portable consumer electronics, today reported its financial results for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2013.

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

Revenue for the fourth quarter of 2013 was $17.6 million, as compared to revenue of $16.9 million for the third quarter of 2013, and $15.2 million for the fourth quarter of 2012. 

Revenue for the year ended December 31, 2013 was $69.4 million, compared to $54.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2012.

Net loss attributable to Actions Semiconductor's shareholders for the fourth quarter of 2013 was $0.8 million or $0.012 per basic and diluted American Depositary Share ("ADS").  This compares to net loss attributable to Actions Semiconductor's shareholders of $0.2 million or $0.002 per basic and diluted ADS, for the third quarter of 2013, and a net loss attributable to Actions Semiconductor's shareholders of $1.7 million or $0.024 per basic and diluted ADS, for the fourth quarter of 2012. 

Net income attributable to Actions Semiconductor's shareholders for the year ended December 31, 2013 was $0.1 million or $0.002 per basic and diluted ADS.  This compares to a net loss attributable to Actions Semiconductor's shareholders of $2.2 million or $0.032 per basic and diluted ADS, for the year ended December 31, 2012. 

Actions Semiconductor reported gross margin of 22.2% for the fourth quarter of 2013, compared to gross margin of 33.2% for the third quarter of 2013, and 32.1% for the fourth quarter of 2012.  The Company ended the fourth quarter with $224.6 million in cash and cash equivalents, together with time deposits, trading securities and marketable securities, current and non-current.

Since the share repurchase program commenced in 2007, the Company has invested approximately $50.4 million in repurchasing its shares.  As of December 31, 2013, approximately 22.1 million American Depositary Shares (ADSs) were repurchased.

"The year of 2013 was a critical one for our Company.  We achieved top line growth of 28%, above our 25% target, and improved our bottom line.  Following the successful introduction of our OWL series product family, we have made good progress in penetrating the white-box tablet market and carving market share.  We are also excited about the new growth opportunity brought by wireless connectivity to our traditional multimedia business.  During the fourth quarter, our second generation dual-core solution, ATM7021, made further inroads in the low-end of the tablet market and our new Bluetooth enabled boombox solutions reached volume shipments," stated Dr. Zhenyu Zhou, CEO of Actions Semiconductor.

"As we enter 2014, we are targeting full year revenue growth between 20% and 25%.  We believe our  OWL series product family provides us with the opportunity to gain share in each segment of the tablet market in 2014, as tablet manufacturers continue migrating to dual-core chipsets for their low-end products and accelerate the use of quad-core solutions for their mid- to high-end models.   At the same time, we expect our newer wireless connectivity enabled multimedia products such as our Bluetooth boombox solutions to make a meaningful contribution to our revenue."

"We believe, as one of the leading design houses in China, our profitability is directly linked to our ability to maintain technology leadership and provide compelling products at each targeted market segment.  In 2014, we will streamline our research and development organization while investing in intellectual property and talent as we seek to enhance our brand image for both multimedia and tablet products," Dr. Zhou concluded.

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.

Based on current market trends, the Company expects revenue in the first quarter of 2014 to be in the range of $12.0 to $13.0 million.  This reflects the return to a more traditional seasonal sales pattern compared to the same period last year, when the Company experienced a steep ramp in shipments associated with the introduction of its new tablet SoC solutions.

The first quarter of the year is traditionally the Company's seasonally slowest quarter due to the Chinese New Year holiday, which causes a slowdown in production by consumer electronics manufacturers in China for approximately three to four weeks.

Conference Call Details

Actions Semiconductor's fourth quarter of fiscal year 2013 teleconference and webcast is scheduled to begin at 8:00 a.m. Eastern Time, on Monday, January 27, 2014.  To participate in the live call, analysts and investors should dial 1-877-941-1465 (within U.S.) or 1-480-629-9723 (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 February 6, 2014 by dialing 1-800-406-7325 (within U.S.) or 1-303-590-3030 (outside U.S.) and entering access code 4662006.

About Actions Semiconductor

Actions Semiconductor is one of China's leading fabless semiconductor companies that provides comprehensive portable multimedia and mobile internet system-on-a-chip (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 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 the outlook for its dual-core and quad-core solutions in domestic and overseas markets, customer acceptance of the Actions Semiconductor's new products and corresponding increases in market share, 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 growth.  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.

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