WEST KINGSTON, R.I. -- July 27, 2000 -- American Power Conversion Corporation (NASDAQ:APCC) today reported financial results for the second quarter ended July 2, 2000.

Sales for the second quarter 2000 were $365.7 million, including $12.9 million in revenue from the Advance Power and ABL Electronics acquisitions, an increase of 16 percent from $315.5 million for the quarter ended June 27, 1999. Net income for the second quarter 2000 was $57.6 million ($.29 per share) up 34 percent from $42.8 million ($.22 per share) in the second quarter of 1999. Net income results exclude both a charge to pre-tax earnings of $30.4 million associated with the partial write-off of fully paid-up patent licenses obtained during the second quarter by APC from General Signal Power Systems, as well an after-tax loss of $0.9 million associated with the acquisitions of Advance Power and ABL Electronics. Including the charge and the impact of second quarter acquisitions, net income was $35.1 million ($.17 per share).

"During the second quarter, APC continued to produce solid year-over-year and sequential revenue gains combined with high levels of profitability," commented Rodger B. Dowdell, Jr., APC's president and CEO. "The quarter's results were highlighted by exceptional growth in our enterprise uninterruptible power supply (UPS) solutions as well as continued strength in Asia. Additionally, we made very strategic additions to our product portfolio during the second quarter allowing us to expand our already strong solution set for the rapidly growing power market for Internet and communications infrastructure.

"The creation of APC's DC Network Solutions Division through the acquisition of Advance Power, as well as the continued rapid expansion of our three-phase Silcon UPS and Symmetra® Power Array™ solutions, continue to solidify APC's role as a global, end-to-end, Nonstop Networking™ solution provider. We have also recently expanded our Symmetra and Silcon offerings with the introduction of the industry's only rack-mountable Power Array and the availability of the 400 and 500 KW Silcon units in North America."

For the second quarter, enterprise application solutions represented 13.5 percent of total revenue, with three-phase Silcon revenue up 126 percent and Symmetra revenue increasing 24 percent. The Company's networking solutions, consisting primarily of Smart-UPS®, Matrix-UPS® and accessories, grew 13 percent year-over-year and represented 57 percent of revenue, while APC's desktop offerings, consisting primarily of SurgeArrest® surge protectors and Back-UPS®, were 29 percent of revenue in the quarter and grew 1 percent. The acquisitions of Advance Power and ABL Electronics contributed $12.9 million of revenue during the quarter and are not included in the second quarter application breakouts.

Geographically, Asia continued to lead all regions with a strong year-over-year growth rate of 41 percent, growing 40 percent or greater for the seventh consecutive quarter, and representing 15 percent of revenue. The Americas (North and Latin America) posted solid year-over-year and sequential gains growing 21 percent and 28 percent, respectively, and were 62 percent of revenue. Finally, revenue in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) was down approximately five percent year-over-year versus the second quarter 1999. On a constant currency basis, EMEA grew two percent versus the second quarter 1999.

"While EMEA revenue growth was impacted by continued IT industry softness and unfavorable currency trends, we are in the process of evaluating our EMEA sales and marketing efforts with the objective of improving our overall execution in this key geography," continued Dowdell.

Business Outlook
"We are currently seeing and continue to expect solid growth from our Asian region as well as continued success in winning enterprise solution applications business with our three-phase Silcon solutions. Excluding the impact of acquisitions, our outlook, based on the current tone of business and internal forecasts, is an expectation of third quarter revenue percentage growth in the range of mid-single digits to mid-teens versus the third quarter of 1999. The acquisitions of Advance Power and ABL Electronics should add approximately 5 percent in incremental revenue for the quarter, thus expanding the revenue growth rate range to 10 to 20 percent. Excluding acquisitions, gross margins in the third quarter should remain in the mid-40s and operating expenses as a percentage of sales should remain in the mid-20s yielding earnings per share in a range of $.29 to $.35. For the fourth quarter we expect earnings per share to be a few cents higher than the third quarter, bringing the full year earnings per share range to approximately $1.13 to $1.25.

"We continue to build our incremental businesses, focusing on high growth areas such as the Internet infrastructure build-out and communications growth. APC remains the largest, and we believe the most profitable, global provider of AC power protection solutions and we continue to aggressively ramp efforts to expand our position in both traditional and new markets."

The statements contained in the "Business Outlook" section are forward-looking statements based on current expectations that involve a number of risks and uncertainties including those described below under the heading "Safe Harbor Provision." While the Company believes that it has a reasonable prospect of achieving these results in 2000, it cannot provide any assurance that these expectations will actually be met.

Safe Harbor Provision
Statements contained in this press release, which are not historical facts, may constitute forward-looking statements as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ from those projected. The factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include the following: APC's ability to successfully integrate ABL and Advance Power's operations; the timely development and acceptance of new products; ramp up, expansion and rationalization of global manufacturing capacity; general worldwide economic conditions; growth rates in the power protection industry and related industries, including but not limited to the PC, server, networking, telecommunications and enterprise hardware industries; competitive factors and pricing pressures; changes in product mix; changes in the seasonality of demand patterns; inventory risks due to shifts in market demand; the effects of any other possible acquisitions; component constraints and shortages; risk of nonpayment of accounts receivable; the uncertainty of the litigation process including risk of an unexpected, unfavorable result of current or future litigation including, without limitation, the pending Anthony F. Coppola litigation discussed in the Company's SEC filings; financial impact during any period of the Company's purchase of the license to certain patent rights under a worldwide patent license from General Signal Power Systems; and the risks described from time to time in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

About American Power Conversion
Founded in 1981, American Power Conversion (NASDAQ: APCC) is a leading provider of global, end-to-end availability enhancement solutions which include surge suppressors, uninterruptible power supplies (UPS), DC-based power systems, cabling and connectivity solutions, power conditioning equipment, related software, and professional and consulting services for Nonstop Networking™. APC's comprehensive products, services and accessory offering, which is designed for both home and corporate environments, improves the availability, manageability and performance of sensitive electronic, network, communication and industrial equipment of all sizes. APC, which is headquartered in West Kingston, Rhode Island, reported sales of $1.337 billion for the year ended December 31, 1999 and is a Fortune 1000 and S&P 500 company.

All trademarks are the property of their owners. Additional information about APC and its global end-to-end solutions can be found by accessing the APC World Wide Web site at www.apcc.com or by calling 800-877-4080.

Investor Contacts:
Donald M. Muir, chief financial officer, 401-789-5735, ext. 2105
Deborah K. Grey, investor relations manager, 401-789-5735, ext. 2994, dgrey@apcc.com

Media Contact:
Jodi Kennedy, director of corporate communications, 401-789-5735, ext. 2158, jkennedy@apcc.com