Trading Update

17 January 2012

SDL plc

Trading Update

Maidenhead, U.K. - Tuesday 17 January 2012 - SDL plc, the leading provider of Global Information Management solutions, today announced that revenues and profits for the year ended 31 December 2011 are expected to be slightly ahead of analyst consensus expectations.

Revenue is expected to be in a range of £228.5m to £229.0m (2010: £203.5m) compared with analyst consensus expectations of £228.3m. Profits before taxation and amortisation of intangible assets ("PBTA") for the period are expected to be in the range of £39.5m to £40.0m (2010: £35.4m), compared with analyst consensus expectations of £39.2m. Net cash in the business at the end of the period was slightly in excess of £70m (2010: £46.6m).

Mark Lancaster, Executive Chairman of SDL commented: 

"This is strong performance delivered against a challenging macro-economic backdrop demonstrating the resilience, diversity, differentiation and strong cash generation characteristics of our business model. During the period we have demonstrated sound progress in the execution of our strategy; investing for growth through innovation and geographic expansion, completing several key new product launches to schedule and desired market impact, and completing the acquisition of Calamares, an enterprise solution for video and rich media management. Excellent progress has been made in new client acquisition for Global Information Management solutions providing a solid foundation for 2012."

SDL expects to announce its preliminary results for the year ended 31 December 2011 on 28 February 2012 when further details will be provided.

As previously announced, the proposed acquisition of Alterian plc is expected to complete on 27 January 2012. The necessary Alterian shareholder approvals were received at a Court Meeting and subsequent General Meeting held on 6 January 2012. The Directors believe the addition of data analytics and social media monitoring into our Global Information Management platform will further help our customers to engage with their customers across multiple languages, channels and cultures.

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