ViaSat Inc. reported record earnings for its fourth quarter and fiscal year ended March 31, 1999. Fourth quarter sales totaled $18.2 million compared to $17.8 million in sales for the comparable quarter last year, a 2.5% increase. The Company's net income for the quarter rose 20.2% to $1.9 million compared to $1.6 million for the fourth quarter of the prior year. Diluted net income per share was $0.23 for the fourth quarter, a 21% increase compared to the $0.19 per share for the prior year. The Company posted record results for the year ended March 31, 1999 with sales of $71.5 million, an 11.4% increase over the $64.2 million in sales for FY98. Net income for FY 1999 increased 19% to $6.3 million, compared to $5.3 million for the prior fiscal year. Diluted net income per share also grew to $0.77 based on 8.2 million common equivalent shares outstanding for FY99 compared to diluted net income per share of $0.65 based on 8.2 million common equivalent shares for the prior fiscal year. "Our fourth quarter results cap a solid financial year for the company, " said Mark Dankberg, chairman and CEO of ViaSat. "This past fiscal year we improved our profitability through a favorable mix of products, pricing adjustments, and manufacturing cost reductions." The Company ended fiscal year 1999 with sales backlog of $45 million compared to $73 million at the end of FY 1998. Neither figure includes contract options. The sales backlog includes several multiyear contracts, some of which extend into fiscal year 2001 or beyond. At the end of FY 1999, the company had an additional $45 million in priced options, compared to $24.3 million in priced options at the end of FY 1998. The FY 1999 backlog of options includes the recent $30 million Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) UHF Satcom products contract from the US Navy. Fiscal Year Business Highlights Some specific highlights from FY99 follow:

• Shipment of first production units of the new "Turbo" Ultra High Frequency (UHF) Demand Assigned Multiple Access (DAMA) Satcom modem to the US Navy. The Turbo modem, an upgrade of ViaSat's MD-1324/U modem, provides higher data rates through advanced signaling waveforms and also incorporates a UHF receiver without an increase in size or weight.
• Expanded international sales of ViaSat UHF DAMA satellite communications products to US allies. ViaSat executed a $5 million contract with Elmer Marconi, to provide network control and subscriber terminal equipment for the Italian Ministry of Defense, under the SICRAL program.
• ViaSat received a $30 million IDIQ ordering contract with the US Navy for UHF DAMA satellite equipment. This "catalog" sets pricing and product specifications that provide government customers with a simple way to place orders, up to a maximum of $30 million over the next three years.
• Initial shipments of the Calypso Business Terminal, a lower-cost subscriber terminal for StarWire DAMA customers.
• Award of prototype and demonstration contracts for StarWire 2-way broadband DAMA IP (Internet Protocol) satellite services. Over-the-air demonstration of ViaSat's patented Paired Carrier Multiple Access (PCMA) frequency re-use technology at the Satellite 99 industry conference.
• Several key additions to our management team including Thomas Wittenschlaeger from Hughes Space and Communications as VP and general manager of StarWire, Stephen Cable from Rockwell-Collins as VP of strategic development, and Richard Baldridge from Raytheon as CFO.

Portions of this release, particularly the "Fiscal Year Business Highlight Recap" section, may contain forward-looking statements regarding future events and are subject to risks and uncertainties. We wish to caution you that there are some factors that could cause actual results to differ materially, including but not limited to: technologies not being developed according to anticipated schedules, or that do not perform according to expectations; and increased competition and other factors affecting the telecommunications industry generally. We refer you to the documents the Company files from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission, specifically the section titled Risk Factors in the Company's Form 10-K. These documents contain and identify other important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in our projections or forward-looking statements. 

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