Interim Management Statement - Sopheon

Sopheon plc, the international provider of software and services that improve the financial return from innovation and product development investments, issues its interim management statement for the period since 1 July 2011 to date, in line with the requirements of the EU Transparency Directive.

In our interim report issued at the end of August, we noted that the first half of the year ended with some spill-over of orders into the subsequent period. Third quarter business was stronger than the first and second quarters, and also stronger than the third quarter of 2010. Revenue visibility for the year now stands at £9.6m, compared to £8.8m at the same time last year. Full year revenues for 2010 were £10.5m.

Our overall sales pipeline remains strong, containing a healthy mix of net new and existing client opportunities. New lead generation also remains strong, indicating resilient levels of market demand. We fully expect to add more business in the current financial year, with corresponding increases in visibility; our opportunity is to convert as much of the strong Q4 pipeline as possible into sales within the remaining months of the year. However, as noted in the past, our reported revenues are sensitive to the timing and value of individual order events. We are also very conscious of the recent spike in economic uncertainty, and continue to make investment decisions with deliberate caution.

We continue to grow our presence in the Consumer Goods market by executing against several vertical marketing initiatives aimed at the consumer goods (CG) sector, our strongest vertical this year. In August, Sopheon conducted benchmark research in collaboration with CGT (Consumer Goods Technology) magazine of innovation practices among consumer goods manufacturers. A duplicate survey of Sopheon customers in the CG market found that Sopheon clients outperformed study averages in such critical performance areas as new-product development process adherence, and percentage of new products meeting profit objectives. An October meeting of Sopheon’s product advisory council affirmed our product direction and validated a range of new revenue-opportunity areas in both our existing and net new accounts. The council included representatives from industry leading customers such as Cytec, Dr. Pepper, Parker-Hannifin, PepsiCo, Regal Beloit and Land O’Lakes.

*A definition of how visibility is calculated was provided in our half- yearly report published on 24 August 2011.