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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, DC 20549
FORM 6-K
REPORT OF FOREIGN ISSUER
PURSUANT TO RULE 13a-16 OR 15d-16 OF
THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
For the month of April 22, 1999
MERANT plc
(Translation of Registrant's Name Into English)
The Lawn, Old Bath Road, Newbury, England RG14 1QN
(Address of Principal Executive Offices)
(Indicate by check mark whether the registrant files or will file
annual reports under cover of Form 20-F or Form 40-F.)
Form 20-F X Form 40-F _____
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(Indicate by check mark whether the registrant by furnishing the
information contained in this form is also thereby furnishing the information to
the Commission pursuant to Rule 12g3-2(b) under the Securities Exchange Act of
1934.)
Yes X No _____
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(If "Yes" is marked, indicate below the file number assigned to the
registrant in connection with Rule 12g3-2 (b): 82-795.)
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Embargoed for release: Thursday 22 April 1999 - 3.30pm (British Summer Time)
CONTACTS:
MERANT FINANCIAL DYNAMICS
Gary Greenfield Giles Sanderson/Edward Bridges
President & Chief Executive Officer UK
1-301-838-5223 44-171-831-3113
[email protected]
Ken Sexton VMW, INC.
Chief Financial Officer Sylvia Dresner/Vicki Weiner
1-301-838-5210 United States
[email protected] 1-212-616-6161
[email protected]
MERANT Schedules Meeting to Discuss Business Outlook
for the Fiscal Year Ending April 30, 2000
NEWBURY, England and MOUNTAIN VIEW, California -- April 22, 1999 -- MERANT plc
(London Stock Exchange: MRN; Nasdaq: MRNT), a leader in Enterprise Application
Development solutions, has scheduled a meeting to be held at 4.00pm (British
Summer Time) today with investors, potential investors and analysts to discuss
financial targets for the fiscal year ending April 30, 2000. MERANT's US GAAP
revenue is targeted to grow at mid to high teens for the whole fiscal 2000, with
growth beginning to occur in the second fiscal quarter. Pre-tax profits on a US
GAAP basis are targeted to be 10 to 13 percent of revenue for the coming fiscal
year.
This announcement has been made in accordance with London Stock Exchange
requirements. These financial targets are not a forecast of revenue and earnings
for the fiscal year ending April 30, 2000, and should not be construed as a
forecast. Statements regarding these targets are forward-looking statements that
are subject to risks and uncertainties, and actual results may differ
materially. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially are
listed below in this announcement.
The results for the fiscal year ending April 30, 1999 are expected to be
released in the first week of June 1999.
MERANT's President and CEO, Gary Greenfield, said, "MERANT is excited about the
prospects for fiscal 2000. Solutions focused on WEB development, e-business
enablement and the information portal are areas expected to contribute to
MERANT's growth in the coming year."
About MERANT
Founded in 1976, MERANT is a leader in Enterprise Application Development,
providing the products, people and processes to accelerate the customer's
business through the application of innovative information technology. MERANT
empowers organizations to transform their enterprise applications for the
changing technology and business requirements of the e-business environment,
manage the application development process, and provide integrated data
connectivity across the enterprise, from the mainframe to the Internet. A global
organization with nearly $400 million in annual revenues and more than 2,000
employees, MERANT has approximately 500 technology partners and more than 5
million licenses at over 35,000 customer sites -- including the entire Fortune
100 and the majority of the Global 500. For additional information on MERANT and
its solutions, visit the MERANT web site at http://www.merant.com.
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MERANT is a trademark of MERANT International Limited, and INTERSOLV is a
registered trademark of MERANT Solutions Inc. All other trademarks as they
appear in this announcement are the property of their respective owners.
The following statement is made in accordance with the U.S. Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995: This announcement contains forward-looking
statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. There are certain
important factors that could cause results to differ materially from those
anticipated by the statements made herein. Factors that could cause actual
results to differ materially include, among others, the ability of the Company
to effectively manage its costs against uncertain revenue expectations, the
ability to manage and integrate recently acquired businesses or other businesses
that it may acquire in the future, the potential for a decrease in net revenue
which may be caused by delays in the timing of the delivery of products or
services, the ability of MERANT to develop, release and sell products and
services to customers in the highly dynamic market for enterprise application
development solutions, the potential need for enterprise application development
solutions to shift based on changes in underlying technology standards coming
into use, and the effect of competitors' efforts to enter the Company's markets.
Further information on potential factors which could affect the Company's actual
results is included in the Registration Statement on Form F-4 relating to the
INTERSOLV acquisition, MERANT's Annual Report on Form 20-F for the year ended
January 31, 1998 and Quarterly Reports on Form 6-K for the quarters ended April
30, 1998, July 31, 1998 and October 31, 1998, and INTERSOLV's Annual Report on
Form 10-K for the year ended April 30, 1998 and Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q
for the quarter ended July 31, 1998, each as filed or submitted (as the case may
be) with the SEC, as they may be updated and amended with future filings.
-ENDS-
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SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the
registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the
undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.
MERANT plc
(Registrant)
Date: April 22, 1999 By: /s/ Kenneth A. Sexton
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Kenneth Sexton
Chief Financial Officer
