Oldish news from Friday's Globe and Mail...
Certicom's new CEO to stay in Canada
By SHOWWEI CHU
TECHNOLOGY REPORTER
Friday, March 1, 2002 – Print Edition, Page B4
Certicom Corp. said yesterday its new president and chief executive officer will be based in Mississauga rather than Hayward, Calif., a development analysts interpreted as a sign that operations will shift back to Canada.
Ian McKinnon, a 20-year veteran in the information technology industry and a former head of Promis Systems Corp., was appointed yesterday to run Certicom, replacing the three executives temporarily put in change when Rick Dalmazzi resigned in October.
While Certicom has not officially said it will move its corporate headquarters back to Canada, Mr. McKinnon said his business plan for fiscal 2003 will "provide direction" when it's released in May.
Loewen Ondaatje McCutcheon & Co. analyst Michael Sproule said that "with McKinnon staying I think you're going to see everything but the marketing arm refocusing back [to Canada]."
Certicom, which released its third-quarter results yesterday, projected a fourth-quarter loss excluding non-operating and restructuring charges of $3.1-million (U.S.) or 10 cents a share on revenue of about $3.7-million. It reiterated its October break-even goal, and also expects to have about $13-million in cash and short-term investments by the end of the fourth quarter, down from $20.5-million in the third quarter. The stock rose 9 cents to $1.68 on the Nasdaq Stock Market.
In the third quarter ended Jan. 31, Certicom reported a loss of $3.6-million or 11 cents compared with a loss of $5.9-million or 23 cents a year ago. Including non-operating and restructuring charges, Certicom had a loss of $7.9-million or 25 cents compared with a loss of $12-million or 46 cents in the same period a year ago. Revenue fell to $3.2-million from $7.6-million.
The third-quarter results, which met or exceeded the company's targets, left some analysts concerned.
"The revenue is not growing dramatically and getting to profitability by cutting expenses is not the best way to get to profitability, and certainly not a reason for suggesting that the people invest in a company," said Josef Vejvoda, an analyst at TD Newcrest.
In the nine months ended Jan. 31, Certicom had a loss of $63.7-million or $2.04 compared with a loss of $27.8-million or $1.07 a year ago. In the same period, revenue fell to $8.5-million from $19-million. |
