Trading Statement

Sopheon PLC
21 February 2003


Embargoed:                                                   21 February 2003
0700hrs 21 February 2003


                                  SOPHEON PLC
                          ('Sopheon' or the 'Company')


                                 TRADING UPDATE

Sopheon plc ('Sopheon'; stock code : SPE) the international provider of software
and services that enable organisations to improve the business impact of product
development, announces that the consolidated EBITDA loss for the year ended 31
December 2002 is expected to be in line with the broker forecast of £8.9m.

Faced by a very challenging environment and associated pressures on revenues,
the Board has continued throughout the period to drive out costs and to reduce
cash burn, which remains a key priority.

The highlight of the year has been further progress for Accolade, the Business
Process Solutions (BPS) division's software solution for product development, as
set out below:

•   We ended 2002 with a total of 34 paying Accolade-related transactions
    achieved since launch, across 28 customers;

•   The total of 34 transactions is made up of 10 initial licences, 6
    additional licences either following on from an assessment or extending the 
    user base at an existing customer, 3 ancillary modules sold without the core 
    Accolade system, and 15 assessments. Sopheon defines an assessment as when a 
    customer is paying for a trial installation or a consulting engagement which 
    could lead to an Accolade order;

•   30 of these transactions arose in 2002, compared to 4 in 2001;

•   At the 2002 year end there were 9 assessments in progress which the Board 
    believes have the potential to convert into licence sales. This compares 
    to just 1 assessment in 2001.

These achievements, coupled with increasing validation of the market for our
products, support the Board's belief that there is a positive outlook for
Accolade in the current year.

Elsewhere in BPS, the division continued to develop its Dutch healthcare
solutions business, and to wind down bespoke activities.

Sopheon's Information Management (IM) division has continued to be affected by
the difficult market conditions. The impact has been felt most severely in our
German operation, where the customer base has been affected by merger and
rationalisation activity. It is expected that tough economic conditions will
persist in 2003 in all geographies, amplifying the importance for Sopheon and
all other software and service suppliers to demonstrate the capacity of their
solutions to provide fast, substantial return on investment.

Sopheon's preliminary results statement for the year ended 31 December 2002 will
be issued in mid March, 2003.

Barry Mence, Sopheon's Executive Chairman commented:

'We are building on our strategy to become a leading supplier of software and
expert services that improve the process of product development. Despite growing
momentum in the sales pipeline, we are very mindful of the need to maximise cash
resources for the ongoing development of the business in the face of continued
market uncertainty.'


Notes to Editors


Sopheon

Sopheon (LSE:SPE) is an international provider of software tools, experts and
content that help organizations improve the business impact of product
development. Sopheon serves nearly half of the technology-driven companies on
the Fortune 500, enabling them to achieve higher, faster return on innovation
and product development investments through technology and human-based decision
support. The company's products and services include its flagship Accolade(R)
product development system, the award-winning Teltech.com(R) Web-based research
portal for technical and business professionals, and Organik(R)
expertise-sharing software.  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.


FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Barry Mence, Chairman        Sopheon plc                        Tel : + 44 (0)1483-883000
Arif Karimjee, CFO           Sopheon plc                        Tel : + 44 (0)1483-883000
Adam Reynolds/Andrew Tan     Hansard Communications             Tel : + 44 (0)207-245-1100/07957 203 685
Barbara Jansen               Citigate First Financial           Tel : + 31 (0)205-754010




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