Corel Corp, the troubled Canadian software house, is continuing on its comet-like trail of self destruction with a truly awful set of first quarter results. Losses doubled from last year’s figures to $21m, while revenues were halved at $45m, and although the company insisted it has cut costs, there seems to be no evidence of this. Research expenditure and sales expenses continued unabated, leading Corel to a $20m operating loss in the quarter. The company seems intent on spending its way out of trouble, pinning future hopes on its newly developed Open-J technology – see separate story. Don Sylvester, Vice President of sales, talks wistfully about Hyper-growth revenues for the product, something which Corel is in dire need of, but on its past track record is unlikely to achieve. In terms of Corel’s Wordperfect suite, Sylvester re-iterated Corel’s U-turn in strategy by explaining how Wordperfect will now co-exist alongside Microsoft Office, rather than attack it head on. The world does need a choice, he said, hence Corel is working to introduce complete file compatibility with Microsoft applications. And so Corel continues to talk bravely about its future potential, but as its share price shrinks to nothing, the only realistic future lies with an agreed acquisition. Adobe Systems Inc, the San-Jose-based software company is rumored to be investigating an offer, but nobody at the company was prepared to comment.
