COWPLAND ON HOT SEAT
By STUART McCARTHY -- Business Editor
ÿ Corel Corp. CEO Michael Cowpland fended off calls for his resignation from disgruntled shareholders yesterday and insisted the software company will be profitable this year.
ÿA crowd of several hundred people took in yesterday's annual meeting at the Corel Centre to hear the company's mea culpa over its fall from grace and the plunge in share value.
ÿDespite the opponents on the floor however, 95% of the 31 million shares voted at the meeting were in favor of the latest slate of board of directors, which returned Cowpland as chairman, president and CEO and added former Tory cabinet minister Barbara McDougall, now the chairwoman of AT&T Canada Long Distance.
ÿShareholder Milan Stolarik, complained shares plunged over the past 18 months "due to a large extent to poor management" of Corel.
ÿ"My challenge to Michael Cowpland is, if it (Corel) is not profitable in 1998, will you resign," Stolarik asked to solid applause.
ÿCowpland said Corel still faced massive competition from a "juggernaut" named Microsoft.
ÿ"If you think you can manage more successfully against that juggernaut, congratulations to you," Cowpland told Stolarik.
ÿHe said Corel's 12-year track record speaks for itself and that while the stock is at bargain basement prices compared to two years ago, "the potential upside to our stock is immense" with new Java-based software applications and the network computer called NetWinder, poised for the market.
ÿCowpland also said he's willing to sell of a minority stake in the Corel Computer Corp. subsidiary.
ÿCowpland, said he was "prepared to review progress next year, but we intend to make a profit."
ÿCowpland said Corel has worked to stop the loss of share in existing legal and government vertical markets. The legal field, which slipped to a 70% share is now up to 73%.
ÿA new version of WordPerfect 8 with voice recognition, should help corporate sales.
ÿA demonstration of the software functioned quickly and accurately in response to voice commands and received positive applause as did a prototype of the Java based jSuite.
ÿBoard member Paul LaBarge, of the law firm of LaBarge Weinstein, could be seen counseling him against answering several questions, including a projection of revenues.
ÿLaBarge also dismissed the impact of several recent lawsuits including a class action against Corel as being the "very favorable blood sport for U.S. attorneys."
ÿWhile Cowpland said Corel shares have been the "fastest growing stock in the country, albeit admittedly from a small base" since hitting an all-time low of $2.05 in December, things could have been much worse for the valuation. Shares closed up 20› yesterday to $4.10.
ÿAnalyst Duncan Stewart of Terra Capital Corp. said Corel's shares were nearly delisted from the TSE 300 at the low point because it came close to falling below the market capitalization required.
ÿ"It was touch and go for a while," said Stewart. "All the index-based mutual funds would have had to dump it."
ÿStewart said "Cowpland was a little less enthusiastic" at the meeting that he was in Toronto two weeks ago after inking a deal to put WordPerfect in all Ontario schools.
ÿThe picture presented yesterday "was more realistic," he said.
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