The news is hardly a surprise because CA postponed publication of its fourth-quarter and annual figures at the end of last month, blaming additional work that needed to be completed on sales commission expense and income taxes.
However, it warned that the fourth-quarter loss would be higher than expected, and CEO John Swainson said he was disappointed that what would have been a solid year was impacted by execution issues relating to commissions.
With the shares down 25% since the start of the year, the current market value of the company is only $12bn, a level at which it may well attract the interest of a major company such as Hewlett-Packard Co.
While the conviction in April of former CEO Sanjay Kumar on charges of perjury, securities fraud, and obstruction of justice should have drawn a line under the checkered financial history of the company, Swainson’s efforts to create a new image for Islandia, New York-based CA has been undermined by a succession of bad news.
So far this year, the company has lost its COO Jeff Clarke, CTO Mark Barrenechea, and CFO Robert Davis. Then it was announced earlier this month that executive vice president of worldwide sales Gregory Corgan had left the company after a reorganization that eliminated his position.
