Baan
Posts $236 Million Loss and Sells Off Coda for Nearly $40M Less Than It Paid
P.J.
Jakovljevic - February 25th, 2000
Event
Summary
On February 3, Baan Co. posted a fourth-quarter loss of $236 million, in line
with the profit warning that the Dutch business software giant issued last month.
The loss compares to a loss of $295 million in the same period of 1998. On a
per-share basis, the company lost $1.06, compared to a loss of $1.45 in the
same period of 1998. On a more positive note, the company posted a 92 percent
jump in license revenues in the fourth quarter to $49 million vs. $25.6 million
in the same period of 1998.
Pierre
Everaert, the interim chief executive, said the company's reorganization would
cut costs by up to $25 million per quarter "to help provide us with the financial
resources to maintain our investments in research and development and customer
support capabilities." He said he was encouraged by the more than 700 licensing
deals achieved in the quarter with new or existing customers. "Baan's cash and
marketable securities balance ended at a year high of $196.7", Everaert added.
Last
month, Baan saw a third of its market value vanish after it announced the resignation
of Mary Coleman, Everaert's predecessor, and restructuring plans that would
result in a fourth-quarter loss of $240 million to $250 million. Ten days later,
chief financial officer James Mooney resigned.
Everaert
also said "sales execution" is one of the key challenges now facing the company.
He said that problem has been tackled by filling two key positions over the
past two weeks: Mike Shinya as executive vice-president of worldwide sales and
Paul Daly as president of the Americas. Baan recorded $168 million of non-recurring
charges related to the reorganization. These include asset write-downs, restructuring
activities, increases in reserves and allowances, and other one-time charges.
The company also incurred $23 million of planned increases in cost and investments
during the fourth quarter in anticipation of improved revenue performance.
On
February 8, Baan sold its Coda financial applications unit to UK firm Science
Systems for the bargain basement price of $50 million in cash. The move followed
rumors of a sell-off last April after Phil Dawes, a senior manager and one of
the brains behind Coda, quit the company. The British accounting package vendor
was acquired by Baan in February, 1998, for $86.6 million.
In
a prepared statement, company officials said the sale would enable it "to concentrate
on leveraging its core strengths in integrated ERP, supply chain and customer
relationship management, while at the same time e-enabling and extending those
products into the business to business ecommerce space". They also said the
company would record a gain of $30 million for its next fiscal quarter related
to the transaction. But the figure is derived after deducting the residual amount
left on its books from the original acquisition fee from the current cash sale
price. Ironically, the deal was also brokered by Klass Waganaar, who was chief
financial officer when Baan originally purchased Coda.
Market
Impact
Baan's story is a bleak one. The company has reported two consecutive years
of losses and declining revenues, and has struggled to integrate products gained
in numerous acquisitions during the last few years. While the future holds a
continued uphill battle for Baan, the possible silver linings are the significant
license revenue increase in the last quarter and reassuring statements of commitment
from Boeing, its crucial customer.
The
move to sell Coda comes as no surprise to us. As a matter of fact, we predicted
Baan would divest some of its business units in an effort to regain its financial
footing. Its acquisition of Coda was the epitome of a 'wild goose chase', in
an effort to enhance a very basic financial functionality within its core ERP
product. The proper integration of the two products has never been consummated,
and therefore not many existing customers will be particularly affected by this
spin off. The Coda Financial product is suited for financial-services, banking,
and insurance companies, while Baan's core market is in the manufacturing and
retail sectors. Though Coda has more than 2,000 customers, only 12 were also
Baan customers.
We
also believe that Baan should conduct a thorough scrutiny of the possible sell
off of each of its remaining acquired businesses, including Aurum, Beologic,
and Caps Logistics; in order to regain more financial stability and sharpen
the company focus. Baan was doing best when it was focused on its core competency,
namely the manufacturing sector. The recent acquisition binge has had a serious
negative impact on its business.
User
Recommendations
Users currently evaluating Baan products are advised to exercise extreme caution
in making any critical decision about future partnership with the company, due
to its dire present situation and very uncertain future.