Versant Revises Annual Guidance

REDWOOD CITY, Calif., April 20, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Versant Corporation
(Nasdaq:VSNT), an industry leader in specialized data management, today revised
its previous guidance for its fiscal year ending October 31, 2009 and provided
preliminary estimates of the results of its second fiscal quarter.

For fiscal year 2009, the Company now expects revenues of between $17 million
and $19 million (compared to the previous fiscal 2009 revenue guidance of
between $22 million to $24 million) and diluted earnings per share of between
$1.00 and $1.30, based upon an estimated average number of 3.7 million common
shares (compared to the previous fiscal 2009 guidance of diluted earnings per
share of between $2.00 and $2.40).

The Company currently expects revenues of between $3.5 million and $3.7 million
with modest net income for its second fiscal quarter ending April 30, 2009.

"As we stated when Versant originally provided its fiscal 2009 guidance, the
outlook for fiscal 2009 has been much more uncertain than in prior years, and
Versant is being affected by the recession in the global economy, which has
resulted in greater challenges for the Company in closing new software license
transactions," said Jochen Witte, CEO of Versant Corporation. "Given the
uncertain economic environment, we are taking steps to reduce our operating
expenses by approximately 10% compared to the prior fiscal year through
reductions in discretionary spending, by not refilling certain vacant job
positions that are not considered mission critical to the Company, and other
measures. We do not anticipate personnel lay-offs at this time, therefore
maintaining our core team, and we expect to continue to maintain overall
profitable and cash positive operations in our 2009 fiscal year."

The Company plans to continue its stock repurchase program under which it is
authorized to repurchase up to $5.0 million worth of its outstanding common
shares from time to time on the open market, in block trades or otherwise.

About Versant Corporation

Versant Corporation (Nasdaq:VSNT) is an industry leader in specialized data
management software, which helps companies to handle complex information in
environments that have high performance and high availability requirements.
Using the Versant Object Database, customers cut hardware costs, speed and
simplify development, significantly reduce administration costs, and deliver
products with a strong competitive edge. Versant's solutions are deployed in a
wide array of industries including telecommunications, financial services,
transportation, manufacturing, and defense. With over 50,000 installations,
Versant has been a highly reliable partner for over 15 years for Global 2000
companies such as Ericsson, Verizon, Sagem, US Government, and Financial Times.
For more information, call 650-232-2400 or visit www.versant.com.

Forward Looking Statements Involve Risks and Uncertainties

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of
Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934, and is subject to the safe harbor created by those
sections. These forward-looking statements include the statements in this press
release regarding our guidance with respect to our expected revenues and diluted
earnings per share for our fiscal year ending October 31, 2009 ("fiscal 2009"),
our expectations for our revenues and net income for our fiscal quarter ending
April 30, 2009, the amount of anticipated reductions in our operating expenses
for fiscal 2009, and our current expectations regarding our maintaining overall
profitable and cash positive operations in fiscal 2009. Investors are cautioned
that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of Versant's future
performance or other matters and involve significant risks and uncertainties.

There are many important factors and risks that could cause our actual results
to differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements.
These factors, risks and uncertainties include, without limitation: the impact
of the current downturn in the global economy, which may reduce our customers'
revenues and profits and thus dissuade them from making strategic capital
purchase decisions for our products and services; our inability to achieve
revenue expectations or projected net income levels as a result of the foregoing
factors or delays in the sales cycle for our products and services or failures
to close key sales transactions; changing market demands or perceptions of our
products and technologies; failure to develop new customers; the fact that our
results of operations are highly dependent on sales of our Versant Object
Database product; the performance of our resellers; the possibility that
existing value added resellers may not remain committed to our software or that
their sales activity may not keep pace with their historical results; the timing
of larger customer transactions, which may tend to result in significant
variations in quarterly revenues and operating results; potential reductions in
the prices we charge for our products and services due to competitive conditions
or the general economic downturn; changes in currency exchange rates; the
Company's ability to successfully manage its costs and operations, any failure
of our efforts to capitalize on the recently acquired db4o database business or
to ultimately make that business profitable; and the capabilities of our
recently appointed Vice President of Sales, North America. The forward-looking
statements contained in this press release are made only as of the date of this
press release, and the Company assumes no obligation to publicly update any
forward-looking statement. Investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance
on forward-looking statements. Additional information concerning factors that
could cause results to differ can be found in the Company's filings with the
Securities and Exchange Commission, including without limitation the Company's
most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended October 31,
2008, its reports on Form 10-Q and its reports on Form 8-K.

Versant is a registered trademark or trademark of Versant Corporation in the
United States and/or other countries.

Conference Call Information

Versant will host a teleconference today to discuss the above after markets
close. The details for the call are as follows:

Date: Monday, April 20, 2009
Time: 1:30 PM Pacific (4:30 PM Eastern)
Dial-in number U.S.: 1-877-941-1467
International: 1-480-629-9675
Conference ID: 4061325
Internet Simulcast*: http://viavid.net/dce.aspx?sid=000062BA
*Windows Media Player needed for simulcast.
Simulcast is voice only.
Dial in 5-10 minutes prior to the start time. An operator will request your name
and organization and ask you to wait until the call begins. If you have any
difficulty connecting, please call Versant Corporation at (650) 232-2416.

A replay of the conference call will be available until April 27, 2009.

Replay number U.S.: 1-800-406-7325
International Replay number: 1-303-590-3030
Replay Pass Code**: 4061325
**Enter the playback pass code to
access the replay.
-0-
CONTACT: Versant Corporation
Jerry Wong, Chief Financial Officer
1-800-VERSANT
650-232-2400