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System Software Stock Slips; Pending Earnings Release Cited
Dow Jones Online News, Wednesday, November 26, 1997 at 15:04
NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- System Software Associates Inc. stock slipped
Wednesday as some nervous investors apparently reacted to concerns over the timing of the company's fiscal fourth-quarter results and
speculation over possible charges. Although the Chicago-based company hasn't issued a firm date for the earnings release, several analysts said they had anticipated it would report as early as this week, giving some investors pre-earnings jitters when it didn't.
System Software Chief Financial Officer Joseph Skadra emphasized the
company had never set a specific date for the earnings release.
"We indicated a range of time of about two weeks," he said. "We're
now aiming for next week."
Some market watchers expressed little surprise that release of the
results might wind up on the latter end of the window. With a new auditor, KPMG Peat Marwick, providing its first full-year audit for the company, said analyst Bert Hochfeld of Josephthal Lyon & Ross Inc., the tally may take longer than usual.
Parker/Hunter Inc. analyst Monish Bahl concurred. "They may want to
wait for the auditor's results before reporting."
In afternoon trading, Nasdaq-listed shares of System Software (SSAX),
a maker of client/server computer products for the industrial sector,
were off 87.5 cents, or 6.1%, at $13.375 in light trading. In January, System Software restated its 1994, 1995 and 1996 results to reflect the reversal of certain accounting policies concerning revenue recognition based on discussions with Price Waterhouse LLP, its former auditors.
Several shareholder suits have since been filed against the company
alleging that it artificially inflated revenue and earnings for those
periods. Another shareholder sued Price Waterhouse earlier this month,
alleging the accounting firm issued incorrect information in its role as auditor.
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