Williams affirms profitability by Oct. 2002 and further HR reductions.
newswire.ca
Certicom Announces Strategic Re-Focus on Core Operations
Includes Consolidation of Offerings, Re-alignment of Distribution
Channels and Reduction in Costs
HAYWARD, CA, Nov. 9 /CNW/ - Certicom Corporation, (Nasdaq: CERT; TSE:
CIC), a leading provider of mobile e-business security, today announced a
strategic re-alignment of its business units and distribution network, a re-
focus on its core technology offerings, and other changes aimed at improving
operational efficiency. The changes, effective immediately, are intended to
allow the Company to continue to:
- develop and deliver world-class security solutions for industry-leading
communications and computing customers,
- leverage its core operations through the addition of the underlying
technologies developed for its movian(TM) and MobileTrust(TM) business
units, and
- manage for operational profitability by Q2 of fiscal year 2003 (October
2002).
"Every day we see more evidence of the increasing need for wireless
security on a global scale," said Robert Williams, Office of the President.
"While our core offerings in enabling technologies continue to meet our
expectations, market adoption of our newer products - which are targeted at
the anticipated wireless roll-out - has been slower than expected."
Certicom's new management team announced several changes aimed at
improving operational efficiency while preserving the assets required to fuel
future growth. Specifically, Certicom will consolidate its enterprise sales
force to focus on large, strategic accounts (including recent wins in the
Fortune 100, Government, Finance, and Healthcare sectors) and OEM partners.
The Company will also streamline its product offerings, scaling back
investment in its MobileTrust Managed PKI Services, while continuing to offer
the industry's premier wireless Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) technology via
its Trustpoint(TM) product-line, and other market-leading security toolkits
(SSL Plus(TM), WTLS Plus(TM), and Security Builder(R)). Research and
development efforts will re-focus on state-of-the-art enabling technologies,
such as the successful introduction and adoption of the industry's first
handheld VPN security solution for 802.11b networks, and development of new
toolkits for embedded systems.
"While we were pleased that our second fiscal quarter met our revenue
guidance, we recognized the need to reduce our cost structure to accommodate
today's economic realities as we seed the market for the next wave of renewed
growth," Williams continued.
In conjunction with these consolidations, Certicom expects to reduce its
North American workforce by approximately thirty percent over the next fiscal
quarter.
"Certicom has established itself as the leader in wireless security by
delivering exceptional products with outstanding customer responsiveness. That
will not change," said Prakash Panjwani, Senior Vice President of Sales &
Business Development. "By leveraging our existing channels and re-focusing on
our core businesses - leading security technology products and complementary
professional services - we can bring our new products to market faster to
capitalize on current and future market opportunities," Panjwani concluded.
Earnings Release Conference Call Scheduled for November 29, 2001
Certicom will hold its regular quarterly earnings release conference call
after the earnings announcement on November 29. All parties are invited to
listen to the call. Details of the call will be provided at a later date.
Topic: Q2 FY 2002 Earnings Release
Date: November 29, 2001
Time: 2:00 PM Pacific (5:00 PM Eastern)
About Certicom
Certicom is a leading provider of information security software and
services, specializing in solutions for mobile e-business. The company's
products and services are specifically designed to address the challenges
imposed by a wireless data environment. Certicom's solutions incorporate its
efficient encryption technology and are based on industry standards for
information security that utilize public key cryptography. Certicom's products
are currently licensed to more than 200 customers including Cisco Systems,
Inc., Handspring Inc., Motorola, Inc., Nortel Networks, Openwave Systems,
Inc., Palm, Inc., QUALCOMM, Inc., Research In Motion Ltd., Sony International
(Europe) GmbH and Verizon Communications Inc. Certicom's headquarters and
worldwide sales and marketing operations are based in the Silicon Valley in
Hayward. For more information, visit Certicom's Web site at
certicom.com.
Certicom, MobileTrust, movian, Security Builder, SSL Plus, Trustpoint and
WTLS Plus are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Certicom Corp. All
other companies and products listed herein are trademarks or registered
trademarks of their respective holders.
Except for historical information contained herein, this press release
contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties.
Actual results may differ materially. Factors that might cause a difference
include, but are not limited to, those relating to the acceptance of mobile
and wireless devices and the continued growth of e-commerce and m-commerce,
the increase of the demand for mutual authentication in m-commerce
transactions, the acceptance of Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC) technology
as an industry standard, the market acceptance of our principal products and
sales of our customer's products, the impact of competitive products and
technologies, the possibility of our products infringing patents and other
intellectual property of fourth parties, and costs of product development.
Certicom will not update these forward-looking statements to reflect events or
circumstances after the date hereof. More detailed information about potential
factors that could affect Certicom's financial results is included in the
documents Certicom files from time to time with the Securities and Exchange
Commission and Canadian securities regulatory authorities.
%SEDAR: 00003865E
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For further information: Lorraine Kauffman, Corporate Communications,
Certicom Corp., (510) 780-5417, lkauffman@certicom.com; Annie Chang,
Investor Relations, Certicom Corp., (510) 780-5404, achang@certicom.com
CERTICOM CORP. has 179 releases in this database.
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