Borland's troubles increase
Borland International saw its shares fall in trading, following an announcement that the company would report a third-quarter operating loss.
Borland, a tools developer, said its loss will be between 52 to 62 cents a share for the third quarter and revenues will be between $33 million and $36 million.
The announcement is far short of Wall Street's expectations, which is anticipating a loss of only 16 cents a share, according to First Call.
That news came after the market's close yesterday. Borland's shares traded as low as 6-1/8 a share today before closing at 6-3/16, down 11/16 of a point from the previous day.
The expected decline is the latest streak of bad news for Borland, which has been hit with sluggish sales as customers wait for its new line of products. The company did not ship any new products during the quarter.
Borland said its loss was due to a one-time charge associated with its acquisition of Open Environment, a scalable, multitier technology provider.
The third-quarter results will also reflect restructuring that the company underwent during the quarter. The company cut its workforce by 15 percent last October.
"Borland is continuing to take steps aimed at returning to profitability and achieving sustainable growth in fiscal 1998," said Paul Emery, chief financial officer, in a statement "This quarter's expected lower revenues are largely a result of not shipping new products in the quarter. "
Borland is coming off of a second quarter, where it posted a smaller loss than Wall Street expected. The company reported a loss of $9.8 million for the second quarter, less than the $11 million loss it had earlier projected.
Nonetheless, the tools maker did not improve over its performance a year ago, when it reported net profits of $2.6 million in the second quarter.
In an effort to shore up the company's performance, former Apple Computer executive Delbert Yocam was named chairman and chief executive last month. He filled a post that had been vacant since last summer when Gary Wetsel left the company.
Yocam faces the task transforming the troubled company back into a leader in the tools market.
"At this point, it's too early for me to give detailed information on the steps we will need to return to profitability," Yocam said in a statement. "However, one high-priority objective is to strengthen Borland's management and operations, and successfully launch three new products over the next three quarters."
The company plans to ship Borland JBuilder, Delphi 97, and C++ Builder, all designed for client-server and Internet developers, during the fourth quarter and into fiscal 1998.