Ravaged Rodime Plc finally got its numbers out on Friday, and following its $25.9m loss for fiscal 1988 (see page five) the company made a net loss of $2.6m on turnover up 74% at $40.5m in its fiscal first quarter and will make a substantial loss from operations in the second. it says that turnover was severely depressed in the first two months of 1989, and that it was hit by component shortages that caused production delays, and severe price cutting in the disk drive market. All this has left the Glenrothes company with $23.9m in net cash borrowings at February 24 1989, a scary turnaround from deposits of $7.9m at September 30, putting it at the limit of its available overdraft, and it is in breach of some of its loan covenants. Its auditors disclaimed any opinion on the accounts for fiscal 1988, and if that weren’t enough, as well as the Jasmine Technologies suit (CI No 1,144), it is also being sued by Apricot Computers Plc for UKP6.6m on allegations that drives did not conform to contract. Rodime says it is actively seeking new finance and may have to sell some of its assets, although it is likely to get less than book value for them, and it is also in talks to sell the entire company. About its only hope seems to be to win its battles over its patents on 3.5 Winchesters and collect royalties from all.
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