After a dismal year, Micro Focus Plc has spent the first half of its current fiscal year restructuring. The Newbury, UK-based company, whose shares are quoted in American Depositary Receipt form on Nasdaq, now hopes that its latest round of lay-offs and management shake-up will put the it back on the path to recovery. Head count was reduced by about 65, Marcelo Gumucio stepped in as chief executive officer and Michael Gullard has slipped into the chairman’s seat. Pre-tax losses for the half shot up to 9.5m British pounds from 4.5m pounds last time, which included a 5m pound restructuring charge both this year and last, on revenue that fell 7% to 34.1m pounds. Micro said it has defined three specific market opportunities on which to focus its resources. Firstly, it will continue its long-standing business of enabling customers to move from mainframes to workstation environments. Secondly, it has identified the client server market and lastly, it said it would exploit its Revolve product line within the Year 2000 market. In his statement, Gullard said he was confident the redefined focus of the firm and its continued restructuring efforts would help the company function more effectively. His goal was to return to profitability and revenue growth, and he said he was optimistic that recovery signs would begin to appear in the coming months.
