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AUTONOMY CORPORATION PLC ANNOUNCES RESULTS FOR THE THIRD QUARTER ENDED SEPTEMBER 30, 2008

Strong Organic Growth Delivers Record Q3 Results Ahead of Expectations, with Highest Revenues and Profits in Autonomy's History

Autonomy's third quarter conference call will be available live at www.autonomy.com on October 15, 2008, at 9:30 a.m. BST/4:30 a.m. EST/1:30 a.m. PST.

Cambridge, England - October 15, 2008 - Autonomy Corporation plc (LSE: AU. or AU.L), a global leader in infrastructure software, today reported financial results for the third quarter and nine months ended September 30, 2008.

Financial Highlights

	Three Months Ended		Nine Months Ended
	(unaudited)		(unaudited)
	Sept. 30, 2008	Sept. 30, 2007	Sept. 30, 2008	Sept. 30, 2007
Results in US$ ($'000s except per share)	$'000	$'000	$'000	$'000
Revenues	127,105	89,569	357,842	228,299
Gross profit (adjusted)*	117,310	76,449	325,061	203,473
Gross profit margin (adjusted)*	92%	85%	91%	89%
Profit from operations (adjusted)*	53,243	23,765	134,694	67,675
Profit before tax (adjusted)*	53,667	24,942	135,581	71,913
Net profit (adjusted)*	37,495	16,639	94,551	48,795

Gross profit (IFRS)	112,642	72,761	309,996	196,049
Gross profit margin (IFRS)	89%	81%	87%	86%
Profit from operations (IFRS)	47,459	17,518	115,562	55,521
Profit before tax (IFRS)	47,860	18,282	115,215	58,541
Net profit (IFRS)	33,438	12,196	80,354	39,722

EPS
- basic (adjusted)*	$0.17	$0.08	$0.44	$0.25
- diluted (adjusted)*	$0.17	$0.08	$0.44	$0.24

- basic (IFRS)	$0.16	$0.06	$0.38	$0.20
- diluted (IFRS)	$0.15	$0.06	$0.37	$0.20

* Adjusted results exclude the share of loss of associates, post-acquisition restructuring costs and non-cash charges, namely the amortization of purchased intangibles, share-based compensation and non-cash translational foreign exchange gains and losses and associated tax effects. See reconciliations on page 5.

Third Quarter 2008 Highlights

Record quarterly revenue at $127.1 million, up 42% from Q3 2007

Strong organic IDOL growth of 35%

Licence revenue up 50% from organic growth

Operational leverage sees operating margins (adj.) at record 42%, up from 27% in Q3 2007

Record profit before tax (IFRS), up 162% from Q3 2007

Record cash collection of $134 million and conversion of over 100%; positive cash flow generated by operations of $59.6 million (Q3 2007: $20.1 million), up 196%

Gross margins (adjusted) at 92% (Q3 2007: 85%)

Average selling price for meaning-based technologies at $395,000 (Q3 2007: $375,000)

Blue chip third quarter wins include Cingular, Statoil, GM, Bayer, Groupe Mutuel, Lockheed Martin, AT&T, HBO, Canon, Merrill Lynch, PwC, KPMG, D&T, Norsk Hydro, Thomas Cook, Hartford Insurance, Vodafone, emap, AstraZeneca, Sirius Radio, Aflac, Amtrak, Standard & Poors, Wolters Kluwer, Linklaters and the US Postal Service, as well as new and repeat licenses with multiple government, defence and intelligence agencies around the globe such as the U.S. SEC, U.S. National Institute of Health, the U.S. Army, as well as in the U.K., Slovakia, European Commission, Netherlands, Chile, Sweden and Mexico.

12 OEM deals signed including new deals and extensions with Xerox, HP, Kana, Hyland Software and Tumbleweed

DSOs at 84 days for Q3 2008 (Q3 2007: 89 days)

Deferred revenues at $106.2 million, up from $104.8 million in Q2 2008

Minimal FX effect in the quarter

Commenting on the results, Dr. Mike Lynch, Group CEO of Autonomy said today: "We are pleased to announce our record breaking third quarter and nine month 2008 results which are, as previously announced, significantly ahead of consensus estimates and above the top end of the range. The strength in trading was such that the usual Q3 seasonal weakness was not evident, resulting in exceptional quarter-on-quarter revenue, profit and operating margin growth. The business delivered accelerating organic growth during the third quarter, with significant regulatory-driven demand across all sectors, whilst maintaining the backlog at record levels. Financial performance during the quarter was consistently strong with record cash collection from our blue chip customer base and cash conversion over 100%."

Dr. Lynch concluded, "Despite conservative analysis of the current macro environment, the fact that our fundamental market dynamics and our pipeline going into the remainder of the year remain strong leads us to be comfortable with the outlook. Although still maintaining a cautious approach and monitoring the situation closely, we see a number of business opportunities moving into 2009 which give us confidence in the outlook."

Third Quarter and Nine Month Financial Highlights

Revenues for the third quarter of 2008 totalled $127.1 million, up 42% from $89.6 million for the third quarter of 2007 driven by strong organic growth. In the third quarter of 2008, Americas revenues of $83.1 million represented 65% of total revenues, and Rest of World revenues of $44.0 million represented 35% of total revenues. Revenues for the nine months ended September 30, 2008, totalled $357.8 million, up 57% from $228.3 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2007.

Organic growth for the period accelerated to 35%. Calculation of organic growth takes into account the pre-acquisition stub period for ZANTAZ (completed on July 20, 2007). ZANTAZ revenues for the period from July 1 to July 20, 2007 were $4.4 million. The calculation also takes into account the acquisition of Meridio (completed on November 8, 2007). Prior to acquisition revenues for Meridio in Q3 2007 were $3.0 million, of which $0.6m related to licence. There were no other acquisitions in the period. Organic license growth was 50%, and increase in IDOL sales over the year was 35%.

Gross profits (adjusted) for the third quarter of 2008 were $117.3 million, up 53% from $76.4 million in the third quarter of 2007. Gross margins (adjusted) were 92% in the third quarter of 2008, versus 85% in the third quarter of 2007. Gross profits (IFRS) for the third quarter of 2008 were $112.6 million, up 55% from $72.8 million in the third quarter of 2007. Gross margins (IFRS) for the third quarter of 2008 were 89%, compared to 81% in the third quarter of 2007. Gross profits (adjusted) for the nine months ended September 30, 2008, were $325.1 million, up 60% from $203.5 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2007. Gross margins (adjusted) were 91% in the nine months ended September 30, 2008, versus 89% for the nine months ended September 30, 2007. Gross profits (IFRS) for the nine months ended September 30, 2008 were $310.0 million, up 58% from $196.0 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2007. Gross margins (IFRS) for the nine months ended September 30, 2008 were 87%, compared to 86% for the nine months ended September 30, 2007.

Under IAS 38 the company is required to capitalize certain aspects of its research and development activities. The amount of R&D that was capitalized in third quarter of 2008 was $3.0 million. Q3 2008 R&D capitalization is offset by amortisation charges of $1.4 million arising from historical R&D capitalization. This results in a net credit in the quarter of $1.6 million, and a net margin impact of 1%.

Net profit (adjusted) for the third quarter of 2008 was $37.5 million, or $0.17 per diluted share, compared to net profit (adjusted) of $16.6 million, or $0.08 per diluted share, for the third quarter of 2007. Net profit (IFRS) for the third quarter of 2008 was $33.4 million, or $0.15 per diluted share, compared to net profit (IFRS) of $12.2 million, or $0.06 per diluted share, for the third quarter of 2007.

Net profit (adjusted) for the nine months ended September 30, 2008 was $94.6 million, or $0.44 per diluted share, compared to net profit (adjusted) of $48.8 million, or $0.24 per diluted share, for the nine months ended September 30, 2007. Net profit (IFRS) for the nine months ended September 30, 2008 was $80.4 million, or $0.37 per diluted share, compared to net profit (IFRS) of $39.7 million, or $0.20 per diluted share, for the nine months ended September 30, 2007.

Cash balances were $165.7 million at September 30, 2008, an increase of $73.1 million from $92.6 million at December 31, 2007. Movements in cash flow during the nine months reflect a combination of good cash generation from operating activities and exercise of share options, offset by the quarterly repayments of Autonomy's bank loan, capital expenditure and instalment tax payments. Autonomy has no net debt.

Receivables for the third quarter of 2008 were $123.8 million, compared to $110.5 million at December 31, 2007. Accounts receivable days sales outstanding were 84 days for the third quarter of 2008, compared to 83 days at December 31, 2007. Deferred revenues were $106.2 million at September 30, 2008 compared with $97.9 million at December 31, 2007.

Although IFRS disclosure provides investors and management with an overall view of Autonomy's financial performance, Autonomy believes that it is important for investors to also understand the performance of Autonomy's fundamental business without giving effect to certain specific, non-recurring and non-cash charges. Consequently, the non-IFRS (adjusted) results exclude share of loss of associates, post-acquisition restructuring costs and non-cash charges for the amortization of purchased intangibles, share-based compensation, foreign exchange gains and losses and associated tax effects. Management uses the adjusted results to assess the financial performance of Autonomy's operational business activities.

Q3 Product Sales

Autonomy's infrastructure technology has been adopted by enterprises to process information across all internal and external data formats and sources. During the third quarter of 2008, major customer wins included: Cingular, Statoil, GM, Bayer, Groupe Mutuel, Lockheed Martin, AT&T, HBO, Canon, Merrill Lynch, PwC, KPMG, D&T, Norsk Hydro, Thomas Cook, Hartford Insurance, Vodafone, emap, AstraZeneca, Sirius Radio, Aflac, Amtrak, Standard & Poors, Wolters Kluwer, Linklaters and the US Postal Service. Q3 2008 business also included new and repeat licenses with multiple government, defence and intelligence agencies around the globe such as the U.S. SEC, U.S. National Institute of Health, the U.S. Army, as well as in the U.K., Slovakia, European Commission, Netherlands, Chile, Sweden and Mexico. Repeat business from existing customers accounted for approximately 44% of revenue for the quarter.

Strategic Partnerships and OEMs

Autonomy's OEM Program continued to grow during Q3 2008. Agreements were signed with 12 customers during the quarter, including new and extended agreements with Xerox, HP, Kana, Hyland Software and Tumbleweed.

Q3 2008 Corporate Developments

During the third quarter of 2008 Autonomy continued to extend its market leadership with the introduction of key new and upgraded technologies, including:

Enterprise-class extensions for Microsoft Office Sharepoint Server for large global customers;

The industry's first support for FRCP-compliant messaging on Blackberry Pin-to-Pin and SMS networks;

Business process compliance for the growing number of corporate iPhone users;

Enabled compliance with FSA regulations through combined recording and conceptual search; and

Meaning Based Computing technology integrated into Adobe Creative Suite 4.

During the third quarter Autonomy was recognized in multiple ways for its market leadership and unmatched technology, including:

Winner of the "Badenoch and Clark Business of the Year" award dubbed the "Business Oscars" by Gordon Brown;

Rejoined the FTSE 100.

Selected as preferred partner for speech analytics by CapGemini Telecom Media Defense SAS;

Autonomy's FRCP-compliant pan-enterprise search selected "2008 Trendsetter" by KMWorld Magazine; and

Received highest Socha Gelbman ranking for both eDiscovery software and service.

About Autonomy Corporation plc

Autonomy Corporation plc (LSE: AU. or AU.L) is a global leader in infrastructure software for the enterprise and is spearheading the meaning-based computing movement. Autonomy's technology allows computers to harness the full richness of human information, forming a conceptual and contextual understanding of any piece of electronic data including unstructured information, be it text, email, voice or video. Autonomy's software powers the full spectrum of mission-critical enterprise applications including information access technology, pan-enterprise search, information governance, end-to-end eDiscovery and archiving, records management, business process management, customer interaction solutions, and video and audio analysis, and is recognized by industry analysts as the clear leader in enterprise search.

Autonomy's customer base comprises of more than 17,000 global companies and organizations including: 3, ABN AMRO, AOL, BAE Systems, BBC, Bloomberg, Boeing, Citigroup, Coca Cola, Daimler Chrysler, Deutsche Bank, Ericsson, Ford, GlaxoSmithKline, Lloyd TSB, NASA, Nestle, the New York Stock Exchange, Reuters, Shell, T-Mobile, the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. More than 350 companies OEM Autonomy technology, including BEA, Citrix, EDS, H-P, Novell, Oracle, Sybase and TIBCO, and the company has over 400 VARs and Systems Integrators. The company has offices worldwide.

Autonomy and the Autonomy logo are registered trademarks or trademarks of Autonomy Corporation plc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Financial Media Contacts:	Analyst and Investor Contacts:
Edward Bridges / Haya Chelhot Financial Dynamics +44 (0)20 7831 3113	Sushovan Hussain, Chief Financial Officer Autonomy Corporation plc +44 (0)1223 448 000

Download the full PDF version of the Q3 2008 Report (PDF)