Interim Management Statement

RNS Number : 9960F

Sopheon PLC

01 May 2014

 



Embargoed Release: 07:00hrs Thursday1 May 2014

 

SOPHEON PLC

("Sopheon" or the "Company")

INTERIM MANAGEMENT STATEMENT

Sopheon plc, the internationalprovider of software and services that improve the financial return from innovation and product development investments, announces its first interim management statement for the period from
1 January 2014 to the date of this announcement. 

Following on from the strong performance in the final quarter of 2013, our solid maintenance base, some early license wins and high levels of services activity means that revenue visibility for 2014 already stands at £7.3 million (2013: £7.4 million reported, or £7.1 million on a constant exchange rate basis). As in prior years, the early part of the year was relatively quiet for new license orders, but involved extensive business development progress with both new and existing customers, which we expect to lead to additional license closings as the year progresses.

The rapid pace of product releases continued, with the release of Accolade® 9.1, the latest version of our flagship software solution which we described in detail in an announcement last week. We have maintained investment across our business, and since the start of the year have added staff in a number of areas, most notably in our US sales team. As always we continue to watch performance expectations closely when making recruitment decisions.  In this regard we continue to emphasise to shareholders that the actual timing and value of individual sales events has substantial impact on reported performance for a given period. 

On the corporate front, we were pleased to negotiate $3.5m in new debt facilities with Silicon Valley Bank. These facilities bear substantially lower interest than those they replace, reflecting the growing maturity of our business.  Furthermore, as noted in our recent annual report, we have been in discussions with major holders of our £2m convertible loan stock which currently matures in January next year, and have agreement in principle for a two year extension. We were however disappointed to learn that Euronext intends to wind down the Alternext Amsterdam segment, a market that we joined recently, in late 2012. As we have stated, we will monitor and evaluate the situation in dialogue with Euronext before concluding on implications. In addition, as we have also noted before, incorrect processing by certain market participants in the Netherlands means that the board is considering a repeat of the share consolidation procedure conducted last summer.   

Accolade^® is a registered trademark of Sopheon plc.

For further information contact:

Barry Mence, Chairman	Sopheon plc	+ 44 (0) 1483 685 735
Arif Karimjee, CFO	Sopheon plc	+ 44 (0) 1483 685 735
Charlotte Stranner / Victoria Bates	finnCap	+ 44 (0) 20 7600 1658
Heather Armstrong	Newgate Threadneedle	+ 44 (0) 20 7653 9842
Claire Verhagen	Citigate First Financial	+ 31 (0) 205 754 010

About Sopheon. Sopheon (LSE: SPE) partners with customers to provide complete Enterprise Innovation Performance solutions including software, expertise, and best-practices to achieve exceptional long-term revenue growth and profitability.  Sopheon's Accolade^® solution provides unique, fully-integrated coverage for the entire innovation management and new product development lifecycle.  For the first time, businesses can access a single source of the truth across strategic innovation planning, roadmapping, idea and concept development, process and project management, portfolio management and resource planning.  Sopheon's solutions have been implemented by over 200 customers with over 60,000 users in over 50 countries. Sopheon is listed on the AIM Market of the London Stock Exchange and on the Alternext Exchange in the Netherlands.  For more information, please visit www.sopheon.com

 

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