Micro Focus shares little changed after Q3 figs; CEO
resignation
Date: 01 Dec 1998 13:33:14
Service: AFX
LONDON (AFX) - Shares in Nasdaq and London listed Micro Focus Group PLC were
little changed after release of third quarter figures and news the company's
president and CEO Martin Waters resigned, dealers said.
At 1:12 PM, shares in Micro Focus were down 2-1/2 at 123-1/2 pence. The FTSE
100 index was 170.8 points adrift at 5,573.1.
Micro Focus has appointed Gary Greenfield as president and CEO. Greenfield
was the CEO of Intersolv Inc -- the company Micro Focus acquired earlier this
year for some 324 mln stg.
This will be Micro Focus's third president and CEO in as many years.
Waters, who underwent heart bypass surgery earlier this year, will stay on
in a non-executive capacity.
His resignation comes on the heels of a profits warning earlier in the month
which saw the company estimating third quarter revenues at 87 mln usd and net
income of breakeven before one time charges associated with the Intersolv deal.
This morning, Micro Focus said revenues for the quarter to Oct 31 were 87.2
mln usd, down from 91.3 mln usd with net income, excluding one-time charges for
Intersolv, of 1.1 mln usd, down from 7.7 mln usd.
The company is changing its fiscal year to April 30 from Jan 31 and will
consequently report results for the 15 month period to April 30 1999.
The company blamed the shortfall in the quater's profits on "weakness across
several business segments, especially in its year 2000 business".
"The weakness in North America was caused by the residual effects of the
company's reorganisation of its sales force during the summer months,
merger-related integration issues and delays in major purchases by financial
institutions," it said.
It added: "The year 2000 business also was affected by increased competition
and customers moving to the later stages of their remediation processes, for
which the company did not have the appropriate products until November."
One industry watcher blamed Waters' resignation on his inability to keep a
close eye on the performance of the business.
"You can't do anything about the delay in orders but the other points are
questionable," he said, adding: "Perhaps someone else might have had a better
handle on things."
Micro Focus is hosting a meeting for institutional investors tomorrow.
eva/sk/
|
