WILSONVILLE, OR -- Revenues at Mentor Graphics' printed circuit board and field programmable gate array design businesses grew 45%, helping the EDA design software to record sales.

Overall revenue for the April 30 period was up 27% to a record $230 million, boosted by the acquisition of Valor, company executives noted on their quarterly analyst conference call. PCB and FPGA sales made up 25% of the firm's quarterly revenues.

The company, however, is still suffering from losses, something the analysts zeroed in on during the May 27 call. In response, president Greg Hinckley said the company's market share in its PCB segment has led to that unit being among its most profitable. "Historically, the product lines where we had the highest market share are among the most profitable."

While not disclosing the actual numbers, Hinckley added, "PCB is very profitable."

CEO and chairman Wally Rhines added that Mentor is "by far, the largest provider" of PCB software. That size, he says, means the firm has a broader sales organization, which adds cost, but also means it has less competition in development, which leads to lower R&D spending versus its main competitors.

The company did say it does not expect its overall bookings to billings ratio to be positive for the fiscal year, which suggests longer-term growth might be difficult to achieve.