2011 will be a flat year for Sopheon with expected revenue of £10.3m (vs £10.5m) and anticipated EDITDA of £1.5m (vs £1.51m). The details will be confirmed when the full year results (for YE December 31 2011) are released on March 22 but the preliminary numbers are no surprise given the tone of its trading statements through the year.
The company, who provides product lifecycle management software and services, is not pulling in new customers, which is dragging down its already falling licence revenues (see No half time surprises from Sopheon). 2011 licence deals, including extensions to existing customers, were down to 54, vs 58 last year, and licence revenue as a proportion of total revenue dropped to 29% vs 37%. Neraly 80% of new orders came from existing customers. The percentage is up on last year (62%), attributed to customers placing small initial orders than extending. That is a healthy sign but it needs new customers to fill the pipeline and based on today’s trading statement they are in short supply. Sopheon is working on new product releases so this might help the customer count during 2012.