Lattice's CEO, CFO put on leave of absence
Mark LaPedus
EE Times
(06/14/2005 9:06 AM EDT)
SAN JOSE, Calif. — Amid an investigation into a pending shareholder complaint, Lattice Semiconductor Corp. on Tuesday (June 14) said that it has placed two executives on leave of absence, including Cyrus Tsui, its chairman and chief executive.
Tsui and Rodney Sloss, vice president of finance, have been placed on paid leave of absence "pending completion of an independent examination being undertaken by the company's audit committee," according to Lattice (Hillsboro, Ore.).
Lattice also announced the appointments of Stephen Skaggs as acting chief executive and Patrick Jones as acting chairman. Skaggs had been president of the company, while Jones joined the board in January.
"In connection with its responsibilities for financial oversight, the audit committee is examining issues primarily associated with executive compensation and several related items pertaining to the company's internal controls," according to Lattice. "At the present time, the company is not aware of any required adjustments to its historical financial results in connection with these matters."
The matters that the audit committee is examining were brought to its attention by its "special litigation committee," which was established for the purpose of conducting a review and investigation of the claims contained in two previously announced shareholder derivative complaints.
In a statement, Skaggs said "although the company cannot comment any further on these matters, the management team will remain focused on operating the business and executing the current product development strategy."
A controversy surrounding Lattice intensified last year as a shareholder derivative suit alleges the company's board not only misstated its finances but granted themselves thousands of shares in stock options despite the company's poor fiscal performance.
The suit was filed in the Superior Court for the State of Oregon by Connecticut law firm Scott + Scott LLC, on behalf of Ron Tonkin, a longtime Lattice shareholder, who has held hundreds of thousands of Lattice shares for over 20 years. It follows a class-action shareholder suit last month accusing the programmable logic device supplier of misstating its 2003 finances (see Oct. 18, 2004 story).
In April, Lattice reported first quarter revenue of $51.3 million, an increase of 6 percent from last quarter's revenue of $48.5 million but down 13 percent from the $59.1 million reported for the first quarter of 2004.
Lattice's net loss for the first quarter was $10.9 million, or 10 cents per share, down from the net loss of $13.1 million, or 12 cents per share, reported last quarter. These losses include charges of $4.4 million and $5.8 million, respectively, for the amortization of intangible assets.
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