ARM Holdings plc - Settlement of all outstanding issues with Herodion

CAMBRIDGE, UK, 19 March 2004 – ARM Holdings plc [(LSE: ARM); (Nasdaq: ARMHY)] today announces the settlement of all outstanding issues with Herodion (picoTurbo Inc’s successor entity), following the arbitration process referred to in the preliminary results announcement on 27 January 2004.  These issues related to the out-of-court settlement of the patent lawsuit against picoTurbo in December 2001.

Following the findings of the arbitration panel and subsequent discussions between the parties, ARM has agreed to pay £6.4 million to Herodion as part of the full and final settlement of all outstanding legal issues. This amount includes the original cash investment that ARM committed to make and settlement of Herodion claims for damages in compensation for loss of license revenue and royalty payments.

As this amount represents a post balance sheet adjusting event in respect of ARM’s results for the year to 31 December 2003, it will be charged as a one-off item to the 2003 profit and loss account in the 2003 statutory accounts of ARM Holdings plc. These accounts will be posted to shareholders on 24 March 2004. The fully diluted earnings per share under UK GAAP for 2003 of 2.1p per share reported in the preliminary announcement on 27 January 2004 is adjusted to 1.5p per share as a result of the inclusion of the Herodion settlement. Similarly, the fully diluted earnings per share under US GAAP for 2003 of 1.9p is adjusted to 1.3p.

This settlement agreement is not expected to have any impact on ARM’s financial results in 2004.

ARM will be announcing its results for the first quarter of 2004 on 20 April 2004.

  
ENDS

About ARM
ARM is the industry’s leading provider of 16/32-bit embedded RISC microprocessor solutions. ARM licenses its high-performance, low-cost, power-efficient RISC processors, peripherals, and system-on-chip designs to leading electronics companies. The company also provides comprehensive support required in developing a complete system.  ARM's microprocessor cores are rapidly becoming a volume RISC standard in applications such as automotive, consumer entertainment, security, imaging, industrial, mass storage, networking and wireless.

More information on ARM is available at http://www.arm.com