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Technology Stocks : Mercator (MCTR) [formerly TSI Software] -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: haikaa who wrote (15)	8/22/2000 9:11:31 PM
From: haikaa	Respond to of 70

Dow Jones *Possible BUYOUT* 22-Aug-2000 16:22 PM Mercator Off 14% After Restatement, CFO's Departure Dow Jones Newswires By Marcelo Prince Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES NEW YORK -- Mercator Software Inc. (MCTR) shares fell nearly 17% Tuesday after the company restated first-half earnings to half of what it had previously reported and announced its new financial chief had resigned. Mercator, which had delayed the filing of its 10-Q by five days, said late Monday that after reviewing its books, it found $2.4 million in expenses that went unreported in the first and second quarters. The shares have fallen nearly 75% since its mid-July earnings' preannouncement and are now 90% below their March high of $149.88. They recently trafficked down $2.81, or 16.7%, at $14 on volume of 3.8 million, compared with a daily average of 1.1 million. ... ... However, Mercator's stock price is unlikely to sink too far, some analysts said, because it's now an attractive acquisition target. It currently sports a market capitalization of $400 million, less than 3 times this year's revenue forecast of $150 million. "While downside may be limited by acquisition prospects valuation," wrote Prudential's Breiner. "We believe upside maybe limited as well." Kiarash of Buckingham Research said Mercator's strong technology, more than 100 sales people, and weakened stock price make it an "excellent" acquisition. He said the odds of the wounded firm being purchased in the next 6 to 12 months are now better than 50-50. But Benjamin Sim, analyst at Wit SoundView, disagreed. "Would Mercator sell at this point? No, it's not a company in distress," he said. Investors are particularly concerned that McKay's departure might signal that deeper financial problems exist at Mercator. But Sim suggested McKay's departure wasn't connected to the numbers. Perhaps, McKay offered to take over the chief executive reigns and was rebuffed, Sim added. "No one who was CEO of SAP America (a unit with a $2 billion annual run rate) is going to go into a much smaller company to be CFO," Sim said. -Marcelo Prince; Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-5244