(Telecompaper) ARM reported fourth-quarter revenues up 18 percent year-on-year to USD 357.6 million, boosted by strong royaly revenue. The adjusted operating margin improved to 51.4 percent from 48.8 percent the year earlier while pretax profit lifted 25 percent to GBP 118.9 million and earnings per share increased 36 percent to 7.2 pence (GBP). ARM said processor licensing revenue in the US rose 30 percent and that processor royalty in the US advanced 16 percent. Order backlog was up 5 percent from the third quarter. The company recorded a growth in the adoption of ARM processor technology and said it signed a record 53 processor licenses for a broad range of applications. The company shipped 3.5 billion ARM-based chips, up 20 percent from the year before. It also recorded strong growth in shipments of microcontrollers and chips for mobile devices. For the first quarter, total group dollar revenues are expected to go 10 percent higher from the year before, driven by expected strong royalty and license revenue growth through the year.