11 Jun 2007 07:00
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 11 June 2007 SOPHEON PLC AGM Statement
At the Annual General Meeting of Sopheon plc to be held later today, the Chairman of the board will give shareholders an update and review of the business. This will include the following statement:
"Sopheon, as highlighted in our annual report, is pleased to report that 2006 was a year of significant progress:
* 2006 was the fifth year of increased turnover and reduced losses resulting in positive EBITDA for the first time. * Our market share continued to grow in targeted chemical and food & beverage markets, exemplified by the recent additions of industry leaders such as Land O'Lakes and SAB Miller to our client base. * We expanded beyond food & beverage markets in the consumer packaged goods sector with the significant signings of Electrolux and Timex, and extended our geographical reach with signings in Scandinavia, France, Israel, Portugal and New Zealand. * And we made progress in our consulting partnership program with recognized contribution from Arthur D. Little and Hewlett Packard, both newly developed partners, who participated in our gaining a number of strategic global clients, including a major auto manufacturer.
More recently, since the start of 2007 we have continued to steadily develop our business. New sales brought the total number of Sopheon license clients to 92 (excluding clients from today's announced acquisition). This success resulted in further increases in recurring maintenance and hosting revenues - which now stand at ‚£1.85 million annualized. In addition, repeat business from existing customers continues to increase in importance, and sales pipeline activity remains strong. However, as always, it is important to note that our performance in any reporting period can be materially affected by the signature date of individual deals.
On the product front, Sopheon released Service Pack 2 for Accolade Version 6.0 in May. Enhancements contained in the pack streamline management of large, complex product portfolios and enable users to generate analytical portfolio reports five to ten times faster. Sopheon expects to release a new version of Accolade in the fourth quarter of 2007. We believe that this will be the largest and most significant product introduction since the launch of our flagship offering in 2001. The company convened its Product Advisory Council in early June. The sessions involved eight US-based and eight European-based clients, and provided in-depth insight and feedback regarding unmet market needs and expected demands in 2008 and beyond. We are excited by the strong contribution, vision and support we enjoy from our global clients and are committed to ensuring that our priorities in product development continue to be market-driven.
As expected, the competitive landscape for our company has shifted in the past 12 months. We indicated in our Annual Report that Sopheon is facing a growing number of suppliers beyond those against whom we have competed historically. We expect this trend to continue, and are prepared to compete and respond swiftly to new entrants in our markets. We are encouraged by ongoing industry acknowledgement of the distinctive strengths and value of our offering, exemplified by a recent research note from Gartner Group, the IT research and advisory firm, that profiled the benefits of our solution to Electrolux. Similarly, this month Sopheon is being recognized for its technology contribution to the product development success of Glatfelter Corporation, an Accolade user that was named a winner of Managing Automation magazine's Progressive Manufacturing 50 award for product innovation. While we are confident our position of market leadership will serve us well in the short-term, we continue to work aggressively to ensure that we can sustain this position indefinitely into the future.
Finally, in support of moving more progressively to grow our market and financial position we have today announced the acquisition of Alignent, a leading product and technology roadmapping software company, and I would reference such announcement for the details of the transaction and of its strategic importance to our business."
For further information contact:
Barry Mence, Chairman Sopheon plc Tel : + 44 (0)1483 685735 Arif Karimjee, CFO Sarah Wharry, Seymour Pierce Limited Tel : + 44 (0)207 107 8000Nominated Adviser Adam Reynolds Hansard Communications Tel : + 44 (0)207 245 1100 Andrew Tan + 44 (0)7957 203 685 Floor van Maaren Citigate First Financial Tel : + 31 (0)205 754 010 About Sopheon
Sopheon is an international provider of software and services that help organizations improve the business impact of product innovation. Sopheon's Accolade system automates and governs the innovation process, enabling companies to increase revenue and profits from new products. Sopheon is listed on the AIM Market of the London Stock Exchange and on the Euronext in the Netherlands. For more information, please visit www.sopheon.com.
SOPHEON PLC