-----BEGIN PRIVACY-ENHANCED MESSAGE----- Proc-Type: 2001,MIC-CLEAR Originator-Name: webmaster@www.sec.gov Originator-Key-Asymmetric: MFgwCgYEVQgBAQICAf8DSgAwRwJAW2sNKK9AVtBzYZmr6aGjlWyK3XmZv3dTINen TWSM7vrzLADbmYQaionwg5sDW3P6oaM5D3tdezXMm7z1T+B+twIDAQAB MIC-Info: RSA-MD5,RSA, EV45AQhiS1oT4onLYH4gsyvD3r93OnEht1x7HbqsVsE57mFAc7P1VWH2Zs0mqMhp mHxEMW1PSPMXKG8KbjGFXQ== 0001104659-04-038840.txt : 20041208 0001104659-04-038840.hdr.sgml : 20041208 20041208164857 ACCESSION NUMBER: 0001104659-04-038840 CONFORMED SUBMISSION TYPE: 6-K PUBLIC DOCUMENT COUNT: 6 CONFORMED PERIOD OF REPORT: 20041231 FILED AS OF DATE: 20041208 DATE AS OF CHANGE: 20041208 FILER: COMPANY DATA: COMPANY CONFORMED NAME: GEAC COMPUTER CORP LTD CENTRAL INDEX KEY: 0001145047 STANDARD INDUSTRIAL CLASSIFICATION: SERVICES-COMPUTER PROGRAMMING SERVICES [7371] IRS NUMBER: 000000000 STATE OF INCORPORATION: A6 FISCAL YEAR END: 0430 FILING VALUES: FORM TYPE: 6-K SEC ACT: 1934 Act SEC FILE NUMBER: 000-50568 FILM NUMBER: 041191251 BUSINESS ADDRESS: STREET 1: 11 ALLSTATE PARKWAY STREET 2: SUITE 300 CITY: MARKHAM ONTARIO CANADA L3R 9T8 STATE: A6 ZIP: 00000 BUSINESS PHONE: 9059403704 6-K 1 a04-14524_16k.htm 6-K

 

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

 


 

FORM 6-K

 

REPORT OF FOREIGN PRIVATE ISSUER
PURSUANT TO RULE 13A-16 OR 15D-16 OF THE
SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

 

For the month of: December 2004

 

Commission File Number: 0-50568

 

Geac Computer Corporation Limited

(Translation of registrant’s name into English)

 

11 Allstate Parkway, Suite 300, Markham, Ontario L3R9T8 Canada

(Address of principal executive offices)

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant files or will file annual reports under cover Form 20-F or Form 40-F.       Form 20-F  o Form 40-F  ý

 

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is submitting the Form 6-K in paper as permitted by Regulation S-T Rule 101(b)(1): o

Note: Regulation S-T Rule 101(b)(1) only permits the submission in paper of a Form 6-K if submitted solely to provide an attached annual report to security holders.

 

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is submitting the Form 6-K in paper as permitted by Regulation S-T Rule 101(b)(7): o

Note: Regulation S-T Rule 101(b)(7) only permits the submission in paper of a Form 6-K if submitted to furnish a report or other document that the registrant foreign private issuer must furnish and make public under the laws of the jurisdiction in which the registrant is incorporated, domiciled or legally organized (the registrant’s “home country”), or under the rules of the home country exchange on which the registrant’s securities are traded, as long as the report or other document is not a press release, is not required to be and has not been distributed to the registrant’s security holders, and, if discussing a material event, has already been the subject of a Form 6-K submission or other Commission filing on EDGAR.

 

Indicate by check mark whether by furnishing the information contained in this Form, the registrant is also thereby furnishing the information to the Commission pursuant to Rule 12g3-2(b) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

Yes  o No  ý

 

If “Yes” is marked, indicate below the file number assigned to the registrant in connection with Rule 12g3-2(b): 82-

 

 



 

On December 7, 2004, Geac Computer Corporation Limited filed on the SEDAR website maintained by the Canadian Depository for Securities Limited at www.sedar.com a press release issued on December 7, 2004, containing its quarterly financial results for the fiscal quarter ending October 31, 2004, a copy of which is attached as Exhibit 99.1 to this Report of Foreign Private Issuer on Form 6-K.

 

On December 7, 2004, Geac Computer Corporation Limited filed on the SEDAR website maintained by the Canadian Depository for Securities Limited at www.sedar.com its Management Discussion & Analysis relating to its quarterly financial results for the fiscal quarter ending October 31, 2004, a copy of which is attached as Exhibit 99.2 to this Report of Foreign Private Issuer on Form 6-K.

 

On December 7, 2004, Geac Computer Corporation Limited filed on the SEDAR website maintained by the Canadian Depository for Securities Limited at www.sedar.com certain certifications relating to its interim filings issued on December 7, 2004, a copy of such certifications are attached as Exhibits 99.3 and 99.4, respectively, to this Report of Foreign Private Issuer on Form 6-K.

 

 

SIGNATURES

 

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.

 

 

GEAC COMPUTER CORPORATION LIMITED

 

 

 

 

 

 

/s/ Jonathan D. Salon

 

 

 

Jonathan D. Salon
Vice President and
Deputy General Counsel

 

 

Date: December 7, 2004

 

2



 

EXHIBIT INDEX

 

Number

 

Title

 

 

 

99.1

 

Press Release issued on December 7, 2004

 

 

 

99.2

 

Management Discussion and Analysis filed on December 7, 2004

 

 

 

99.3

 

Certification of Interim Filings during Transition Period of Ms. Donna de Winter, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, dated December 7, 2004

 

 

 

99.4

 

Certification of Interim Filings during Transition Period of Mr. Charles S. Jones, President and Chief Executive Officer, dated December 7, 2004

 

3


EX-99.1 2 a04-14524_1ex99d1.htm EX-99.1

Exhibit 99.1

 

News Release
 
GEAC ANNOUNCES SECOND QUARTER RESULTS FOR FISCAL YEAR 2005

 

Net Earnings for the Quarter Increased by 48.1% Over Q2 of Fiscal Year 2004

 

Second Quarter Diluted Net Earnings Per Share of $0.17
Compared to $0.12 Diluted Net Earnings Per Share in Q2 a Year Ago

 

 

Note to readers: All references to dollars are to U.S. dollars unless otherwise noted.

 

MARKHAM, Ontario and SOUTHBOROUGH, Massachusetts – December 7, 2004 – Geac Computer Corporation Limited (TSX: GAC and NASDAQ: GEAC), a global enterprise software company dedicated to addressing the needs of CFOs, today announced its second quarter financial results for the three and six months ended October 31, 2004.

 

Second Quarter Financial Highlights

 

US$ thousands (except EPS)

 

Q2 FY2005

 

Q2 FY2004

 

Software Revenue

 

$

15,064

 

$

15,282

 

Support & Services Revenue

 

$

88,890

 

$

89,459

 

Hardware Revenue

 

$

2,476

 

$

6,726

 

Total Revenue

 

$

106,430

 

$

111,467

 

Net Earnings

 

$

15,204

 

$

10,264

 

Diluted Net Earnings Per Share

 

$

0.17

 

$

0.12

 

 

Geac reported total revenue in the second quarter of fiscal year (FY) 2005 of $106.4 million, a decrease of $5.0 million compared to $111.5 million in total revenue in the second quarter of FY 2004.  The decrease was primarily due to a $4.3 million year-over-year decline in Geac’s low-margin hardware revenue. Software license revenue was $15.1 million in the second quarter, down 1.4% from $15.3 million a year ago.  The Company’s net earnings were $15.2 million during the second quarter of FY 2005, or $0.17 per diluted share, compared with $10.3 million, or $0.12 per diluted share in the second quarter of last year.  This represents a net earnings increase of 48.1% and an increase in diluted EPS of 41.7%.  Diluted EPS in

 

1



 

the first quarter of FY 2005 were $0.15 per share. Our gross profit margin increased to 63.6% of revenue from 59.4% in the second quarter of FY 2004.

 

“I am pleased to announce that we continued Geac’s series of consecutive quarters in which the company recorded improved earnings on a year-over-year basis,” stated Charles S. Jones, Geac’s President and CEO.  “License sales increased across many of our business units, including MPC, EnterpriseServer, SmartStream, Local Government, Libraries, Restaurants, Interealty and Public Safety.   While we continue to experience significant interest in our System21 Aurora product suite, the business witnessed a year-over-year license revenue decline in the second quarter. We achieved an increase in net earnings of 48.1% despite a slight decline in total software, support and professional services revenue during second quarter FY 2005 compared to second quarter FY 2004.”

 

Operating expenses were $47.2 million in the second quarter of FY 2005, a decrease of 7.1% from $50.8 million in the second quarter of FY 2004.  Reductions in sales and marketing, product development, and general and administrative expenses each contributed to the overall reduction in operating expenses.

 

“We continue to build our cash balance with focused cash management efforts that have resulted in a second quarter fiscal year 2005 balance of $121.8 million, compared to $46.9 million at the end of the second quarter of 2004 and $112.6 million at Geac’s fiscal year end of April 30, 2004,” said Donna de Winter, Chief Financial Officer of Geac.  “Our efforts related to cost management and the increase in license sales across many of our businesses have resulted in a year-over-year increase in net earnings of $4.9 million, which has contributed $2.9 million in cash provided by operating activities, compared to $2.2 million consumed in operating activities during the second quarter of 2004.”

 

2



 

Customers: Enterprise Applications Systems

 

In the second quarter, Geac closed more than 470 deals company-wide in the Enterprise Applications Systems (EAS) segment of its business.  Twenty-one of these deals exceeded $150,000, and the average deal size within this group was approximately $265,000.

 

Geac Performance Management

The total revenue for Geac Performance Management increased 11.2% in the second quarter of FY 2005, as compared to the second quarter of FY 2004.  Geac closed more than 90 Geac Performance Management deals with new and existing Geac customers, including sales into our Enterprise Server customer base.  Among the customers signing new contracts for Geac Performance Management — primarily for budgeting, forecasting and consolidation solutions — were:

                  Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA), a regional power, water and land management authority with operations in 58 counties in Texas

                  Altiris, a pioneer in IT lifecycle management software

                  Chart Industries, Inc.

                  A leading worldwide car rental company

                  A large university in the United States

                  A major financial services company

 

Enterprise Server

Geac signed more than 25 contracts with new and existing customers for E Series and M Series products, consisting of:

                  Four healthcare organizations, including Lee Memorial Health System

                  Visteon Corporation, a supplier of integrated in-vehicle technology solutions to automotive manufacturers worldwide

                  A major international shipping company

 

3



 

                  A leading aerospace company

                  Four major financial services companies

 

SmartStream

SmartStream recorded another impressive quarter, with year-over-year new license revenue growth of 36.4%.  Contributing to that growth, the division entered into more than 20 contracts with customers including:

                  CIP, the information management organization for the Dutch police

                  Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group plc (FTSE: JLT), the largest insurance broker listed on the London Stock Exchange (and the sixth largest globally), extending its SmartStream implementation

                  A provincial government in Holland, committing to roll out SmartStream Active Access Invoice Approval and Receipts, increasing their SmartStream user licenses substantially

                  A leading financial services company

                  A major U.S. restaurant chain

 

Customers: Industry Specific Applications (ISAs)

 

Geac Local Government

Geac Local Government increased its license revenue by over 95% in the second quarter compared to a year ago.  Among the division’s highlights were contracts with a combined total of over $460,000 to Canterbury City Council in New South Wales (Australia) and Far North District Council in New Zealand.  Geac Local Government also had three councils go live with its Pathway software: Campbelltown City Council in New South Wales; The City of Swan in Western Australia; and Thames Coromandel District Council in New Zealand.

 

Geac Library Solutions

Geac Library Solutions continued to see momentum in sales of its Vubis Smart library automation system in the second quarter, with an 11.5% increase in year-over-year new license revenue.  The first customer in

 

4



 

the United States and the second in North America, Harnett County Public Library (HCPL) in Lillington, North Carolina, purchased Geac’s Vubis Smart innovative, Web-based library management system.  Also in the quarter, BT Consulting & Systems Integration purchased Geac Vubis Smart to manage all branch libraries for Essex County in a joint system with Southend and Thurrock Councils in the United Kingdom. Serving almost 1.2 million members through over 90 services points, Essex, Southend and Thurrock Libraries will be able to offer a wide range of new services using Vubis Smart.

 

Geac Interealty

In the first and second quarters of FY 2005, Interealty signed multi-year contracts, projected to be valued at approximately $4.5 million or more over the term of these agreements, with five organizations representing more than 9,900 Realtors® across three U.S. states and Ontario.  The customers will use Geac Interealty’s MLXchange Web-based multiple listing service (MLS) automation technology.

 

Product and Business Initiatives

 

Geac strives to develop new products and services and enhance its existing product offerings to optimize our customers’ financial value chain and derive the most return from their technology investments.   In the second quarter of FY 2005, Geac released Geac Compliance Management 2.0, which was announced at Alliance 2004.  Geac Compliance Management is designed specifically to help companies manage the remediation phase of their Sarbanes-Oxley and other regulatory compliance efforts.  Also in the second quarter of 2005, Geac released a number of internally developed products, including: SmartSeries 5.3 offering enhanced integration and connectivity between Enterprise Applications; Vubis Smart 2.3 to further improve our Libraries solution; and Anael RH, which serves the Human Resources needs for the French market.

 

Geac has also expanded the reach of its existing products by adapting and introducing them into new geographic markets.   In the second quarter of FY 2005, Geac sold the first Vubis Smart library application in the United States, and is adapting its Local Government product for sale in the United Kingdom.   Geac

 

5



 

also continues its efforts to extend the functionality of its existing products by integrating them with its GPM product suite for more comprehensive solutions that optimize the customer’s financial value chain.

 

As part of Geac’s long- term strategic objective to accelerate and grow software license revenue globally, Geac appointed Jeffrey W. Murphy to lead the Geac Performance Management software business worldwide. Mr. Murphy, an 18-year veteran of the enterprise software industry who previously served as Senior Vice President and General Manager of SAP America, Inc., oversees all customer-facing operations related to Geac Performance Management.  Mr. Murphy will lead the Geac Performance Management software business worldwide with direct responsibility for Sales, Professional Services, Business Development and Sales Development.

 

Concluding Remarks

 

“This quarter we are pleased to report another increase in year-over-year earnings, even though we were unable to deliver top-line revenue growth in all of our businesses,” said Mr. Jones.   “We remain focused specifically on expanding the Geac Performance Management unit, an objective we hope to attain in part through targeted acquisitions. I note again that Geac operates in a challenging environment – the enterprise software market remains in flux, and many industry analysts forecast further consolidation – but that said, we believe Geac is well positioned, thanks in part to our strong balance sheet, to enhance the range of solutions in the financial value chain while extending the life of our transactional back-office solutions.”

 

To better understand this press release and for more in-depth analysis of these financial results, please see our Management Discussion and Analysis, which will be filed with the Canadian Securities Administrators at www.sedar.com and the United States Securities and Exchange Commission at www.sec.gov.  It will also be posted on our website at http://www.geac.com later today.

 

6



 

Earnings Call

 

Management will discuss the results announced on a conference call scheduled for later today, Tuesday, December 7, 2004, at 5:15 p.m. Eastern Time.

 

Listeners may access the conference call at 416.405.9328 / 800.387.6216, or via webcast at http://www.investors.geac.com.

 

A replay of the conference call will be available from December 7, 2004 at 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time until December 16, 2004 at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time.  The replay can be accessed at 416.695.5800 or 1.800.408.3053.  The pass code for the replay is 3112261#.

 

The conference call will be broadcast over Geac’s web site at www.investors.geac.com. Attendees will need to log in at least 15 minutes prior to the call.

 

About Geac

Geac (TSX: GAC, NASDAQ: GEAC) is a global enterprise software company that addresses the needs of the Chief Financial Officer.  Geac’s best-in-class technology products and services help organizations do more with less in an increasingly competitive environment, amidst growing regulatory pressure, and in response to other business issues confronting the CFO.  Further information is available at http://www.geac.com or through email at info@geac.com.

 

Geac trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol “GAC” and on the NASDAQ National Market under the symbol “GEAC” and had 85,618,169 common shares issued and outstanding at October 31, 2004.

 

This press release contains forward-looking statements of Geac’s intentions, beliefs, expectations and predictions for the future.  These forward-looking statements often include use of the future tense with words such as “will,” “may,” “intends,” “anticipates,” “expects” and similar conditional or forward-looking words and phrases.  These forward-looking statements are neither promises nor guarantees.  They are only predictions that are subject to risks and uncertainties, and they may differ materially from actual future events or results.  Geac disclaims any obligation to update any such forward-looking statements after the date of this release.  Among the risks and uncertainties that could cause a material difference between these forward-looking statements and actual events include, among other things: our ability to increase revenues from new license sales, cross-sell into our existing customer base and reduce customer attrition; whether we can identify and acquire synergistic businesses and, if so, whether we can

 

7



 

successfully integrate them into our existing operations; whether we are able to deliver products and services within required time frames and budgets to meet increasingly competitive customer demands and performance guaranties; risks inherent in fluctuating international currency exchange rates in light of our global operations and the unpredictable effect of geopolitical world and local events; whether we are successful in our continued efforts to manage expenses effectively and maintain profitability; our ability to achieve revenue from products and services that are under development; the uncertain effect of the competitive environment in which we operate and resulting pricing pressures; and whether the anticipated effects and results of our new product offerings and successful product implementation will be realized.  These and other potential risks and uncertainties that relate to Geac’s business and operations are summarized in more detail from time to time in our filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission and with the Canadian Securities Administrators, including Geac’s most recent quarterly reports available through the website maintained by the SEC at www.sec.gov and through the website maintained by the Canadian Securities Administrators and the Canadian Depository for Securities Limited at www.sedar.com for more information on risk factors that could cause actual results to differ.  Geac is a registered trademark of Geac Computer Corporation Limited.  All other marks are trademarks of their respective owners.

 

Geac’s financial statements and the financial information included in this press release have been prepared in accordance with Canadian generally accepted accounting principles.  In addition, the financial statements and the financial information included in this press release, as well as this press release itself, have been reviewed and approved by both the Audit Committee and the Board of Directors of the Company.

 

For more information, please contact:

 

Financial Contact:

Donna de Winter

Chief Financial Officer

Geac

905.475.0525 ext. 3204

donna.dewinter@geac.com

 

Media and Investor Contacts:

David Domeshek

Director, Corporate Communications

Geac

508.871.5064

david.domeshek@geac.com

 

8



 

Laura Hindermann

Director, Corporate Communications

Geac

508.871.5045

laura.hindermann@geac.com

 

9



 

Geac Computer Corporation Limited

Consolidated Balance Sheets

 

(amounts in thousands of U.S. dollars)

 

 

 

October 31, 2004

 

April 30, 2004

 

 

 

(Unaudited)

 

(Audited)

 

Assets

 

 

 

 

 

Current assets:

 

 

 

 

 

Cash and cash equivalents

 

$

121,813

 

$

112,550

 

Restricted cash

 

62

 

95

 

Accounts receivable and other receivables

 

36,659

 

49,300

 

Unbilled receivables

 

9,005

 

6,537

 

Future income taxes

 

10,945

 

15,247

 

Inventory

 

607

 

624

 

Prepaid expenses and other assets

 

11,044

 

10,839

 

Total current assets

 

190,135

 

195,192

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Restricted cash

 

2,425

 

1,781

 

Future income taxes

 

22,586

 

21,741

 

Property, plant and equipment

 

22,689

 

23,843

 

Intangible assets

 

28,325

 

32,628

 

Goodwill (note 4)

 

123,043

 

128,366

 

Other assets

 

2,856

 

3,352

 

Total assets

 

$

392,059

 

$

406,903

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Liabilities & Shareholders’ Equity

 

 

 

 

 

Current liabilities:

 

 

 

 

 

Accounts payable and accrued liabilities

 

$

64,816

 

$

79,664

 

Income taxes payable

 

34,633

 

34,538

 

Current portion of long-term debt

 

403

 

391

 

Deferred revenue

 

83,424

 

117,927

 

Total current liabilities

 

183,276

 

232,520

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Deferred revenue

 

1,824

 

2,256

 

Employee future benefits (note 6)

 

24,909

 

23,994

 

Asset retirement obligation (note 3)

 

2,089

 

1,648

 

Accrued restructuring (note 7)

 

3,319

 

5,864

 

Long-term debt

 

4,708

 

4,550

 

Total liabilities

 

220,125

 

270,832

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shareholders’ Equity

 

 

 

 

 

Common shares; no par value; unlimited shares authorized; issued and outstanding as at October 31, 2004 – 85,618,169 (April 30, 2004 – 85,174,785)

 

126,752

 

124,019

 

Common stock options

 

16

 

44

 

Contributed surplus

 

3,684

 

2,368

 

Retained earnings

 

63,233

 

34,517

 

Cumulative foreign exchange translation adjustment

 

(21,751

)

(24,877

)

Total shareholders’ equity

 

171,934

 

136,071

 

 

 

$

392,059

 

$

406,903

 

 

Commitments and contingencies (note 8)

 

10



 

Geac Computer Corporation Limited

Consolidated Statements of Earnings

(Unaudited)

 

(amounts in thousands of U.S. dollars, except share and per share data)

 

 

 

Three months ended
October 31,

 

Six months ended
October 31,

 

 

 

2004

 

2003

 

2004

 

2003

 

 

 

 

 

(Revised-see
notes 2 & 3)

 

 

 

(Revised-see
notes 2 & 3)

 

Revenue:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Software

 

$

15,064

 

$

15,282

 

$

30,559

 

$

28,131

 

Support and services

 

88,890

 

89,459

 

178,360

 

171,911

 

Hardware

 

2,476

 

6,726

 

4,379

 

12,950

 

Total revenue

 

106,430

 

111,467

 

213,298

 

212,992

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cost of revenue:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Costs of software

 

2,130

 

2,279

 

3,810

 

4,136

 

Costs of support and services

 

34,748

 

37,114

 

69,003

 

70,834

 

Costs of hardware

 

1,877

 

5,834

 

3,413

 

11,093

 

Total cost of revenue

 

38,755

 

45,227

 

76,226

 

86,063

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gross profit

 

67,675

 

66,240

 

137,072

 

126,929

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Operating expenses:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sales and marketing

 

17,699

 

20,085

 

36,233

 

36,224

 

Product development

 

13,906

 

15,453

 

28,299

 

28,751

 

General and administrative

 

13,709

 

15,736

 

28,014

 

32,166

 

Net restructuring and other unusual items (note 7)

 

(367

)

(2,692

)

(1,020

)

(2,807

)

Amortization of intangible assets

 

2,290

 

2,255

 

4,536

 

3,031

 

Total costs and expenses

 

47,237

 

50,837

 

96,062

 

97,365

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Earnings from operations

 

20,438

 

15,403

 

41,010

 

29,564

 

Interest income

 

674

 

200

 

1,175

 

586

 

Interest expense

 

(368

)

(308

)

(756

)

(424

)

Other income (expense), net

 

714

 

(389

)

212

 

(758

)

Earnings from operations before income taxes

 

21,458

 

14,906

 

41,641

 

28,968

 

Income taxes

 

6,254

 

4,642

 

12,925

 

9,337

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Net earnings for the period

 

$

15,204

 

$

10,264

 

$

28,716

 

$

19,631

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Basic net earnings per share

 

$

0.18

 

$

0.12

 

$

0.34

 

$

0.23

 

Diluted net earnings per share

 

$

0.17

 

$

0.12

 

$

0.32

 

$

0.23

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Weighted average number of common shares used in computing basic net earnings per share (‘000s)

 

85,521

 

84,464

 

85,251

 

84,361

 

Weighted average number of common shares used in computing diluted net earnings per share (‘000s)

 

87,398

 

85,544

 

87,372

 

85,442

 

 

See accompanying notes

 

11



 

Geac Computer Corporation Limited

Consolidated Statement of Shareholders’ Equity

(in thousands of U.S. dollars, except share date)

 

 

 

Share capital

 

 

 

 

 

Cumulative
foreign

 

 

 

 

 

Commons
shares

 

Amount

 

Common
stock
options

 

Contributed
surplus

 

Retained
earnings/
(deficit)

 

exchange
translation
adjustment

 

Total
shareholders’
equity

 

 

 

(’000s)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Balance - April 30, 2003 (audited)

 

84,136

 

$

120,976

 

$

163

 

$

 

$

(22,649

)

$

(22,320

)

$

76,170

 

Issuance of common stock for cash

 

642

 

1,396

 

 

 

 

 

1,396

 

Net earnings

 

 

 

 

 

20,153

 

 

20,153

 

Stock-based compensation (note 2)

 

 

 

 

605

 

 

 

605

 

Foreign exchange translation adjustment

 

 

 

 

 

 

(1,694

)

(1,694

)

Balance – October 31, 2003(unaudited)

 

84,778

 

122,372

 

163

 

605

 

(2,496

)

(24,014

)

96,630

 

Issuance of common stock for cash

 

397

 

1,511

 

 

 

 

 

1,511

 

Exercise of stock options granted in connection with acquisition of Extensity

 

 

119

 

(119

)

 

 

 

 

Stock-based compensation (note 2)

 

 

 

 

1,780

 

 

 

1,780

 

Employee stock purchase plan

 

 

17

 

 

(17

)

 

 

 

Net earnings

 

 

 

 

 

37,013

 

 

37,013

 

Foreign exchange translation adjustment

 

 

 

 

 

 

(863

)

(863

)

Balance – April 30, 2004 (audited)

 

85,175

 

124,019

 

44

 

2,368

 

34,517

 

(24,877

)

136,071

 

Issuance of common stock for cash

 

443

 

2,125

 

 

 

 

 

2,125

 

Exercise of stock options granted in connection with acquisition of Extensity

 

 

28

 

(28

)

 

 

 

 

Stock-based compensation (note 2)

 

 

 

 

1,896

 

 

 

1,896

 

Exercise of stock options

 

 

320

 

 

(320

)

 

 

 

Employee stock purchase plan

 

 

260

 

 

(260

)

 

 

 

Net earnings

 

 

 

 

 

28,716

 

 

28,716

 

Foreign exchange translation adjustment

 

 

 

 

 

 

3,126

 

3,126

 

Balance – October 31, 2004 (unaudited)

 

85,618

 

$

126,752

 

$

16

 

$

3,684

 

$

63,233

 

$

(21,751

)

$

171,934

 

 

See accompanying notes

 

12



 

Geac Computer Corporation Limited

Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows

(Unaudited)

 

(amounts in thousands of U.S. dollars)

 

 

 

Three months ended
October 31,

 

Six months ended
October 31,

 

 

 

2004

 

2003

 

2004

 

2003

 

 

 

 

 

(Revised -see
notes 2 & 3)

 

 

 

(Revised-see
notes 2 & 3)

 

Cash flows from operating activities

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Net earnings for the period

 

$

15,204

 

$

10,264

 

$

28,716

 

$

19,631

 

Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash provided by operating activities:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Amortization of intangible assets

 

2,290

 

2,255

 

4,536

 

3,031

 

Amortization of property, plant and equipment and accretion

 

1,677

 

1,819

 

3,398

 

3,541

 

Amortization of deferred financing costs

 

235

 

135

 

471

 

135

 

Stock based compensation

 

1,018

 

605

 

2,120

 

605

 

Future income tax expense

 

4,779

 

3,138

 

9,593

 

6,430

 

Reversal of accrued liabilities and other provisions

 

(366

)

(2,748

)

(1,027

)

(3,225

)

Other

 

(60

)

142

 

(58

)

(16

)

Changes in operating assets and liabilities:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Accounts receivable and other and unbilled receivables

 

3,564

 

(2,928

)

12,067

 

10,104

 

Inventory

 

166

 

(18

)

24

 

74

 

Prepaid expenses and other assets

 

(32

)

4,294

 

160

 

2,858

 

Accounts payable, accrued liabilities and other liabilities

 

(3,184

)

(5,094

)

(17,749

)

(9,557

)

Income taxes payable

 

(479

)

2,025

 

230

 

1,716

 

Deferred revenue

 

(21,920

)

(16,387

)

(37,413

)

(38,209

)

Other

 

2

 

290

 

(8

)

155

 

Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities

 

2,894

 

(2,208

)

5,060

 

(2,727

)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cash flows from investing activities

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Acquisition of Comshare less cash acquired

 

 

(39,019

)

 

(39,019

)

Additions to property, plant and equipment

 

(921

)

(904

)

(1,614

)

(1,514

)

Disposals of property, plant and equipment

 

7

 

12

 

155

 

82

 

Change in restricted cash

 

(11

)

1,312

 

(486

)

402

 

Net cash used in investing activities

 

(925

)

(38,599

)

(1,945

)

(40,049

)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cash flows from financing activities

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Deferred financing costs

 

 

(2,804

)

 

(2,804

)

Issue of common shares

 

666

 

1,298

 

2,125

 

1,396

 

Issuance of long-term debt

 

54

 

 

87

 

 

Repayment of long-term debt

 

(117

)

(180

)

(227

)

(386

)

Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities

 

603

 

(1,686

)

1,985

 

(1,794

)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents

 

3,179

 

749

 

4,163

 

1,624

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cash and cash equivalents

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents

 

5,751

 

(41,744

)

9,263

 

(42,946

)

Cash and cash equivalents - Beginning of period

 

116,062

 

88,617

 

112,550

 

89,819

 

Cash and cash equivalents - End of period

 

$

121,813

 

$

46,873

 

$

121,813

 

$

46,873

 

 

See accompanying notes

 

13



 

Geac Computer Corporation Limited

Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements

(Unaudited)

(amounts in thousands of U.S. dollars, except share and per share data unless otherwise noted)

 

1.     Basis of presentation

 

The accompanying unaudited consolidated financial statements have been prepared in United States (“U.S.”) dollars and in accordance with Canadian generally accepted accounting principles (“Canadian GAAP”) for interim financial statements.  Accordingly, these unaudited financial statements do not include certain disclosures normally included in annual financial statements prepared in accordance with such principles.   These unaudited financial statements were prepared using the same accounting policies as outlined in note 2 to the annual financial statements for the year ended April 30, 2004, and should be read in conjunction with the audited consolidated financial statements and notes included in the Company’s Annual Report for the year ended April 30, 2004.

 

The preparation of these unaudited consolidated financial statements requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported in the consolidated financial statements and the accompanying notes.  In the opinion of management, these unaudited consolidated financial statements reflect all adjustments (which include only normal, recurring adjustments) necessary to state fairly the results for the periods presented.  Actual results could differ from these estimates and the operating results for the interim periods presented are not necessarily indicative of the results expected for the full year.

 

2.              Stock-based compensation

 

Effective May 1, 2003, the Company adopted the revised recommendations of CICA Handbook Section 3870, “Stock-Based Compensation and other Stock-Based Payments” (“Section 3870”), which requires that a fair value method of accounting be applied to all stock-based compensation payments to employees.  In accordance with the transitional provisions of Section 3870, the Company has prospectively applied the fair value method of accounting for stock option awards granted and for shares issued under its Employee Stock Purchase Plan (“ESPP”) on or after May 1, 2003, and accordingly, has recorded compensation expense.  Prior to May 1, 2003, the Company accounted for its employee stock options and shares issued under the ESPP using the settlement method and no compensation expense was recognized.

 

Since the revised recommendations were adopted in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2004, the consolidated statements of earnings for the three and six months ended October 31, 2003 have been restated for comparative purposes to include the charges that would have been included had the Company adopted the provisions at the beginning of fiscal 2004.   The effect of the change in policy and reclassification on results for the six months ended October 31, 2003 is an increase in cost of sales for services of $85, an increase in sales and marketing expense of $235, an increase in product development expense of $85, an increase in general and administrative expense of $200, and a decrease in income tax expense of $165.

 

For awards granted during the year ended April 30, 2003, the standard requires the disclosure of pro forma net earnings and earnings per share information as if the Company had accounted for employee stock options under the fair value method.  The pro forma effect of awards granted and shares issued prior to May 1, 2002 has not been included in the pro forma net earnings and earnings per share information.

 

The pro forma disclosure relating to options granted during the year ended April 30, 2003 is as follows:

 

14



 

 

 

Three months ended
October 31,

 

Six months ended
October 31,

 

 

 

2004

 

2003

 

2004

 

2003

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Net earnings – as reported

 

$

15,204

 

$

10,264

 

$

28,716

 

$

19,631

 

Pro forma stock-based compensation expense, net of tax

 

70

 

630

 

252

 

893

 

Net earnings – pro forma

 

$

15,134

 

$

9,634

 

$

28,464

 

$

18,738

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Basic net earnings per share – as reported

 

$

0.18

 

$

0.12

 

$

0.34

 

$

0.23

 

Pro forma stock-based compensation expense per share

 

 

0.01

 

 

0.01

 

Basic net earnings per share – pro forma

 

$

0.18

 

$

0.11

 

$

0.34

 

$

0.22

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Diluted net earnings per share – as reported

 

$

0.17

 

$

0.12

 

$

0.32

 

$

0.23

 

Pro forma stock-based compensation expense per share

 

 

0.01

 

 

0.01

 

Diluted net earnings per share – pro forma

 

$

0.17

 

$

0.11

 

$

0.32

 

$

0.22

 

 

The estimated fair value of the stock options is amortized to expense over the vesting period, on a straight-line basis, and was determined using the Black-Scholes pricing model with the following weighted average assumptions:

 

Assumptions – Stock Options

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Weighted average risk-free interest rate

 

4.20

%

Weighted average expected life (in years)

 

7.0

 

Weighted average volatility in the market price of common shares

 

71.71

%

Weighted average dividend yield

 

0.00

%

Weighted average grant date fair value of options issued

 

$

3.16

 

 

During the six months ended October 31, 2004, the Company issued common stock to employees who participated in the new 2003 Employee Stock Purchase Plan (“2003 ESPP”).  Under the 2003 ESPP, employees resident in either Canada or the United States are entitled to participate with residents of additional countries to be added over time.

 

The estimated fair value of employee stock options was determined using the Black-Scholes pricing model with the following weighted average assumptions:

 

Assumptions – ESPP

 

 

 

Six months ended
October 31, 2004

 

Six months ended
October 31, 2003

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Weighted average risk-free annual interest rate

 

2.21

%

3.17

%

Weighted average expected life (in months)

 

6

 

3

 

Weighted average volatility in the market price of common shares

 

37.44

%

31.49

%

Weighted average dividend yield

 

0.00

%

0.00

%

Weighted average grant date fair values of awards or shares issued

 

$

2.69

 

$

1.00

 

 

15



 

During the three and six months ended October 31, 2004, the Company expensed $986 and $1,636, respectively, relating to the fair value of options granted.  For the six months ended October 31, 2003, the Company expensed $605 relating to the fair value of options granted.  Compensation expense relating to the fair value of shares issued under the 2003 ESPP was $260 for the six months ended October 31, 2004 (October 31, 2003 - $nil). Contributed surplus was credited $1,896 and $605 for these awards during the six months ended October 31, 2004 and 2003, respectively.  These amounts will be credited to share capital along with the proceeds received on exercise of these awards.

 

The Company also maintains a Directors’ deferred share unit plan (“DSU”).  Under the plan, the Human Resources and Compensation Committee of the Board, or its designee, may grant deferred share units to members of the Company’s Board of Directors relating to compensation for the services rendered to the Company as a member of the Board.  As determined by the Company, units issued under the plan may be payable in cash or common stock.  For the three and six months ended October 31, 2004, the Company expensed $32 and $224, respectively, through general and administrative expense relating to the DSUs.  Accrued liabilities were credited $32 for these awards at the end of the quarter, and will continue to be adjusted each quarter based on the market value of the units which have vested under the plan.

 

3.              Asset retirement obligation

 

The Company has obligations with respect to the retirement of leasehold improvements at maturity of facility leases and the restoration of facilities back to their original condition at the end of the lease term.  For its year ended April 30, 2004, the Company early adopted the provisions of CICA Handbook Section 3110, “Asset Retirement Obligations” (“Section 3110”).  Section 3110 requires that the effect of initially applying the Section be treated as a change in accounting policy.  Accordingly, the financial statements of prior periods presented for comparative purposes are restated retroactively.  The adoption of Section 3110 results in a charge in the consolidated statement of earnings of $42 and $82 for the three and six months ended October 31, 2003, respectively.

 

The following table details the changes in the Company’s leasehold retirement liability for the six months ended October 31, 2004:

 

Asset retirement obligation balance, April 30, 2004

 

$

1,648

 

Additions to the obligation

 

60

 

Accretion charges

 

23

 

Foreign exchange impact

 

17

 

Asset retirement obligation balance, July 31, 2004

 

1,748

 

Additions to the obligation

 

321

 

Accretion charges

 

33

 

Amounts reversed due to settlements

 

(96

)

Foreign exchange impact

 

83

 

Asset retirement obligation balance, October 31, 2004

 

$

2,089

 

 

16



 

4.   Goodwill

 

Changes in the carrying amount of goodwill for the six months ended October 31, 2004 are as follows:

 

Goodwill balance, April 30, 2004

 

$

128,366

 

Goodwill adjustment related to acquisition amounts

 

(495

)

Foreign exchange impact

 

689

 

Goodwill balance, July 31, 2004

 

128,560

 

Goodwill adjustment related to acquisition amounts

 

(6,728

)

Foreign exchange impact

 

1,211

 

Goodwill balance, October 31, 2004

 

$

123,043

 

 

During the three months ended July 31, 2004 the Company released $495 related to Comshare premises and severance reserves set-up at acquisition that upon review were no longer required.  During the three months ended October 31, 2004 the Company reduced goodwill by $5,740 related to an increase in future tax assets and $663 related to the reversal of Comshare tax related reserves that are no longer necessary.  Additionally, the Company released $542 in reserves, and reversed $217 in future tax assets, relating to premises reserves in connection with the Extensity acquisition.  During the quarter it was determined that the Company was no longer liable for this amount.

 

5.     Credit facility

 

On September 9, 2003 the Company and certain of its subsidiaries entered into a Loan, Guaranty and Security Agreement (the “Loan Agreement”) with Wells Fargo Foothill, Inc., pursuant to which the Company and certain of its subsidiaries obtained a three-year revolving credit facility (the “Facility”) with a $50,000 revolving line of credit, including a $5,000 letter of credit sub-facility.  The interest rate payable on advances under the Facility is, at the Company’s option, the prime rate plus 0.50% or LIBOR plus 3.00%.  The Facility is collateralized by substantially all of the assets of the Company and certain of its United States and Canadian subsidiaries and guaranteed by certain of its United States, Canadian, United Kingdom and Hungarian subsidiaries.  The Facility is available for the working capital needs and other general corporate purposes of the Company and its subsidiaries that are parties to the Loan Agreement.  As of October 31, 2004, $1,815 of the letter of credit sub-facility has been utilized, and the remaining $48,185 revolving line of credit is available and has not been drawn on.

 

The financing costs of $2,828 incurred to close the transaction were recorded as other assets in the second quarter of fiscal 2004 and are being amortized to interest expense on a straight-line basis over the term of the Facility.  Amortization related to these financing costs was $235 and $471 for the three and six months ended October 31, 2004, respectively.  For the three months ended October 31, 2003, amortization related to these financing costs was $135.

 

6.     Employee future benefits

 

The Company recorded employee future benefit expenses as follows:

 

 

 

Three months ended
October 31,

 

Six months ended
October 31,

 

 

 

2004

 

2003

 

2004

 

2003

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Defined contribution pension plans

 

$

355

 

$

122

 

$

825

 

$

507

 

Defined benefit pension plan

 

220

 

 

445

 

 

 

 

$

575

 

$

122

 

$

1,270

 

$

507

 

 

17



 

7.     Net restructuring and other unusual items

 

The reversal in net restructuring and other unusual items was $367 and $1,020 for the three and six months ended October 31, 2004 respectively.  For the three and six months ended October 31, 2003, the reversal in net restructuring and other unusual items was $2,692 and $2,807 respectively.

 

Restructuring expense

 

For the three months ended October 31, 2004, the net restructuring credit balance of $367 was comprised of a release related to previously accrued lease termination costs that are no longer required.  In addition, a release of $325 (net of the related tax effect of $217) of excess provisions for acquisition-related liabilities was recorded in the second quarter of fiscal 2005 as an adjustment to goodwill.

 

For the three months ended October 31, 2003, the Company recorded a net reversal of $2,692 in net restructuring and other unusual items, which included a reversal of $2,750 of accrued liabilities and other provisions recorded in prior years which were no longer required, partially offset by a charge of approximately $58 for severance related to the restructuring of the Company’s business in North America. In addition, during the quarter a release of $342 of excess provisions for acquisition-related liabilities was recorded as an adjustment to goodwill.

 

For the six months ended October 31, 2004, the Company recorded a reversal of $1,020, as several smaller restructuring accruals relating to severance amounts and lease termination costs were released to adjust the accruals to match the current estimates of the amounts required.

 

For the six months ended October 31, 2003, the Company recorded a net reversal of $2,807 in net restructuring and other unusual items, which included a reversal of $3,225 of accrued liabilities and other provisions recorded in prior years which were no longer required, partially offset by a charge of $418 for severance related to the restructuring of the Company’s business in North America.

 

Restructuring accrual

 

Activity related to the Company’s restructuring plans, business rationalization, and integration actions, was as follows:

 

 

 

Premises
restructuring

 

Workforce
reductions

 

Total

 

April 30, 2003 provision balance

 

$

17,658

 

$

5,625

 

$

23,283

 

Fiscal year 2004 provision additions

 

3,101

 

5,990

 

9,091

 

Fiscal year 2004 cash payments

 

(4,860

)

(8,661

)

(13,521

)

Fiscal year 2004 provision release

 

(3,699

)

(1,738

)

(5,437

)

April 30, 2004 provision balance

 

12,200

 

1,216

 

13,416

 

First quarter 2005 provision additions

 

400

 

865

 

1,265

 

First quarter 2005 cash payments

 

(1,467

)

(1,064

)

(2,531

)

First quarter 2005 provision release

 

(963

)

(173

)

(1,136

)

July 31, 2004 provision balance

 

10,170

 

844

 

11,014

 

Second quarter 2005 provision additions

 

 

931

 

931

 

Second quarter 2005 cash payments

 

(1,038

)

(1,108

)

(2,146

)

Second quarter 2005 provision release

 

(1,194

)

(35

)

(1,229

)

October 31, 2004 provision balance

 

$

7,938

 

$

632

 

8,570

 

Less: Current portion

 

 

 

 

 

(5,251

)

Long-term portion of restructuring accrual

 

 

 

 

 

$

3,319

 

 

18



 

During the quarter ended October 31, 2004, the Company accrued $931 in severance costs related to the rationalization of the Company’s North American and European business locations.  For the six months ended October 31, 2004, the Company accrued a total of $1,796 in severance and $400 in lease termination costs also related to the rationalization of the Company’s North American and European business locations.

 

As at October 31, 2004, the Company has a balance of $7,938 related to accrued premises restructuring cost.  Of this amount, approximately $816 is related to the acquisition of Comshare and a balance of $2,993 remains related to the acquisition of Extensity.  The Company anticipates that the remainder of these balances will be utilized through fiscal 2009.

 

As at October 31, 2004, a balance of $632 is remaining for severance, of which the remainder will substantially be paid by the end of the third quarter of 2005 and will include employees from the support and services, development and sales and marketing areas.

 

8.     Commitments and contingencies

 

Customer indemnifications

 

The Company has entered into license agreements with customers that include limited intellectual property indemnification clauses.  The Company generally agrees to indemnify its customers against legal claims that its software products infringe certain third-party intellectual property rights.  In the event of such a claim, the Company is generally obligated to defend its customer against the claim and either to settle the claim at the Company’s expense or pay damages that the customer is legally required to pay to the third-party claimant. The Company has not made any significant indemnification payments and has not accrued any amounts in relation to these indemnification clauses.

 

Litigation

 

Activity related to the Company’s legal accruals was as follows:

 

April 30, 2003 provision balance

 

$

3,844

 

Fiscal year 2004 provision additions

 

3,587

 

Fiscal year 2004 costs charged against provisions

 

(3,125

)

Fiscal year 2004 provision release

 

(109

)

April 30, 2004 provision balance

 

4,197

 

First quarter 2005 provision additions

 

284

 

First quarter 2005 costs charged against provisions

 

(2,067

)

July 31, 2004 provision balance

 

2,414

 

Second quarter 2005 provision additions

 

162

 

Second quarter 2005 costs charged against provisions

 

(2,072

)

Second quarter 2005 provision release

 

(58

)

October 31, 2004 provision balance

 

$

446

 

 

19



 

In May 2001, Cels Enterprises, Inc. (“Cels”) filed a complaint in the United States District Court for the Central District of California against Geac, Geac Enterprise Solutions (GES) and JBA International, Inc. (JBA).  GES is JBA’s successor in interest as a result of Geac’s acquisition of JBA Holdings plc in 1999. The complaint alleged that JBA software supplied to Cels was experimental and did not work.  The software product in question, which was part of JBA’s product offering prior to the acquisition, is no longer sold by Geac.  Cels claimed damages of $28,300.  In August 2003, following a jury trial and verdict, the Court entered judgment against GES for approximately $4,134 in damages and prejudgment interest.  GES satisfied the judgment in two separate payments in June and August 2004 totaling, with post-judgment interest, approximately $4,180.  Cels’ appeal of the Court’s denial of its motion seeking approximately $1,000 in attorneys’ fees is still pending.  At April 30, 2004 Geac had accrued $4,187 in respect of the Cels claim and as at July 31, 2004, $2,108 of this amount had been paid.   During the quarter ended October 31, 2004, the Company paid the remaining balance of $2,072 and released the remaining balance of the provision.

 

Extensity, a subsidiary acquired by Geac in March 2003, is subject to a class action suit, which alleges that Extensity, certain of its former officers and directors, and the underwriters of its initial public offering in January 2000 violated U.S. securities laws by not adequately disclosing the compensation paid to such underwriters.  The class action suit has been consolidated with a number of similar class action suits brought against other issuers and underwriters involved in initial public offerings.  The plaintiffs seek an unspecified amount of damages.  The plaintiffs and issuer parties have entered into a settlement agreement to settle all claims, which will be funded by the issuers’ insurers.  The settlement is still subject to approval by the Court.

 

In addition, Geac is subject to various other legal proceedings and claims in the ordinary course of business, arising out of disputes over contracts, alleged torts, intellectual property, real estate and employee relations, among other things.  In the opinion of management, resolution of these matters is not reasonably expected to have a material adverse effect on Geac’s financial position, results of operations or cash flows.  However, a materially adverse outcome with respect to such matters may affect our future financial position, results of operations or cash flows.

 

9.     Segmented information

 

The Company reports segmented information according to CICA 1701, “Segment Disclosures.”  This standard requires segmentation based on the way management organizes segments for monitoring performance.

 

The Company operates the following business segments, which have been segregated based on product offerings, reflecting the way that management organizes the segments within the business for making operating decisions and assessing performance.

 

Enterprise Applications Systems (EAS) offer software solutions, which include cross-industry enterprise business applications for financial administration and human resource functions, and enterprise resource planning applications for manufacturing, distribution, and supply chain management.

 

Industry-Specific Applications (ISA) products include applications for the real estate, construction, banking, hospitality and publishing marketplaces, as well as a range of applications for libraries and public safety administration.

 

There are no significant inter-segment revenues.  Segment assets consist of working capital items, excluding cash and cash equivalents. Cash and cash equivalents are considered to be corporate assets.  Property, plant and equipment are typically shared by operating segments and those assets are managed by geographic region, rather than through the operating segments.

 

During the year ended April 30, 2004, the Company determined that given the nature of the products offered in its local government product line, the inclusion of the local government business in the EAS segment was no longer appropriate.  As a result, the local government business has been reclassified from EAS to ISA.  For comparison purposes, the Company has reclassified revenue, contribution margin and segment assets relating to this business in its comparatives.  The impact on

 

20



 

revenue for the three and six months ended October 31, 2003 was a reclassification of approximately $2,972 and $6,170 respectively from the EAS to the ISA business.

 

 

 

Three months ended
October 31, 2004

 

Six months ended
October 31, 2004

 

 

 

EAS

 

ISA

 

Total

 

EAS

 

ISA

 

Total

 

Revenue:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Software

 

$

12,167

 

$

2,897

 

$

15,064

 

$

25,475

 

$

5,084

 

$

30,559

 

Support and services

 

68,846

 

20,044

 

88,890

 

138,542

 

39,818

 

178,360

 

Hardware

 

1,749

 

727

 

2,476

 

3,185

 

1,194

 

4,379

 

Total revenue

 

$

82,762

 

$

23,668

 

$

106,430

 

$

167,202

 

$

46,096

 

$

213,298

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Segment contribution

 

$

21,579

 

$

4,524

 

$

26,103

 

$

45,869

 

$

7,728

 

$

53,597

 

 

 

 

Three months ended
October 31, 2003

 

Six months ended
October 31, 2003

 

 

 

EAS

 

ISA

 

Total

 

EAS

 

ISA

 

Total

 

Revenue:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Software

 

$

12,889

 

$

2,393

 

$

15,282

 

$

23,185

 

$

4,946

 

$

28,131

 

Support and services

 

69,324

 

20,135

 

89,459

 

131,472

 

40,439

 

171,911

 

Hardware

 

5,742

 

984

 

6,726

 

10,884

 

2,066

 

12,950

 

Total revenue

 

$

87,955

 

$

23,512

 

$

111,467

 

$

165,541

 

$

47,451

 

$

212,992

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Segment contribution

 

$

17,566

 

$

1,371

 

$

18,937

 

$

33,209

 

$

3,622

 

$

36,831

 

 

The impact on segment contribution for the three and six months ended October 31, 2003 was a reclassification of approximately $530 and $1,465 respectively from the EAS to the ISA business.

 

Reconciliation of segment contribution to earnings from operations before income taxes:

 

 

 

Three months ended
October 31,

 

Six months ended
October 31,

 

 

 

2004

 

2003

 

2004

 

2003

 

Segment contribution

 

$

26,103

 

$

18,937

 

$

53,597

 

$

36,831

 

Corporate expenses

 

(3,682

)

(3,991

)

(9,014

)

(7,025

)

Amortization of intangible assets

 

(2,290

)

(2,255

)

(4,536

)

(3,031

)

Interest income, net

 

306

 

(108

)

419

 

162

 

Foreign exchange

 

654

 

(369

)

155

 

(776

)

Net restructuring and other unusual items

 

367

 

2,692

 

1,020

 

2,807

 

Earnings from operations before income taxes

 

$

21,458

 

$

14,906

 

$

41,641

 

$

28,968

 

 

21



 

Geographical information:

 

 

 

Three months ended
October 31,

 

Six months ended
October 31,

 

 

 

2004

 

2003

 

2004

 

2003

 

Revenue by geographic location:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Americas

 

$

56,102

 

$

57,412

 

$

110,996

 

$

110,748

 

Europe

 

41,329

 

45,772

 

84,958

 

85,696

 

Asia

 

8,999

 

8,283

 

17,344

 

16,548

 

Total revenue

 

$

106,430

 

$

111,467

 

$

213,298

 

$

212,992

 

 

10.   United States generally accepted accounting principles

 

The consolidated financial statements of the Company have been prepared in accordance with Canadian GAAP; however the Company’s accounting policies, as reflected in these consolidated financial statements, do not materially differ from U.S. GAAP except as follows:

 

 

 

Three months ended
October 31,

 

Six months ended
October 31,

 

 

 

2004

 

2003

 

2004

 

2003

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Net earnings under Canadian GAAP as reported

 

$

15,204

 

$

10,264

 

$

28,716

 

$

19,631

 

Adjustments:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stock-based compensation (a)

 

(14

)

(34

)

(26

)

(145

)

Write off and amortization of intellectual property capitalized under Canadian GAAP in connection with the Comshare acquisition (b)

 

75

 

(1,458

)

150

 

(1,458

)

Asset retirement obligation (c)

 

 

40

 

 

80

 

Income taxes (d)

 

(30

)

(10

)

(60

)

(10

)

Net earnings under U.S. GAAP

 

15,235

 

8,802

 

28,780

 

18,098

 

Other comprehensive income:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Foreign currency translation adjustment

 

2,530

 

(2,459

)

3,008

 

(1,819

)

Comprehensive income under U.S. GAAP

 

$

17,765

 

$

6,343

 

$

31,788

 

$

16,279

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Net earnings per share under U.S. GAAP:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Basic net earnings per common share

 

$

0.18

 

$

0.10

 

$

0.34

 

$

0.21

 

Diluted net earnings per common share

 

$

0.18

 

$

0.10

 

$

0.33

 

$

0.21

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Weighted average number of common shares used in computing basic net earnings per share (000s)

 

85,521

 

84,464

 

85,251

 

84,361

 

Weighted average number of common shares used in computing diluted net earnings per share (000s)

 

87,398

 

85,544

 

87,372

 

85,442

 

 

22



 

a)      Stock-based compensation

 

Accounting for stock options

 

The Company has prospectively adopted the new Canadian GAAP recommendations, which require that a fair value method of accounting be applied to all stock-based compensation awards granted to employees granted on or after May 1, 2003.  The Canadian GAAP recommendations are substantially harmonized with the existing U.S. GAAP rules, which have also been adopted by the Company prospectively for all awards granted on or after May 1, 2003.  Therefore, there is no GAAP difference for stock-based compensation and awards granted in fiscal year 2004, and thereafter.

 

In fiscal year 2003, the Company did not expense any compensation cost under Canadian GAAP.  For U.S. GAAP, the Company elected to measure compensation cost based on the difference, if any, on the date of the grant, between the market value of the Company’s shares and the exercise price (referred to as the “intrinsic value method”) over the vesting period.  As a result, the Company has recorded stock compensation charges under U.S.  GAAP for fiscal years 2003 and 2004, and will have additional charges in 2005, 2006 and 2007 for stock-based compensation and awards granted in fiscal year 2003.

 

Prior to fiscal year 2003, the Company expensed stock-based compensation under U.S. GAAP as a result of the issuance of stock options with an exercise price below market value.

 

Pro forma disclosures

 

For awards granted prior to May 1, 2003, U.S. GAAP requires the disclosure of pro forma net earnings and earnings per share information for all outstanding awards as if the Company had accounted for employee stock options under the fair value method.

 

The following table presents net earnings and earnings per share information following U.S. GAAP for purposes of pro forma disclosures:

 

 

 

Three months ended
October 31,

 

Six months ended
October 31,

 

 

 

2004

 

2003

 

2004

 

2003

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Net earnings under U.S. GAAP – as reported above

 

$

15,235

 

$

8,802

 

$

28,780

 

$

18,098

 

Pro forma stock-based compensation expense, net of tax

 

(218

)

(849

)

(570

)

(2,074

)

Net earnings – pro forma

 

$

15,017

 

$

7,953

 

$

28,210

 

$

16,024

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Basic net earnings per share under U.S. GAAP – as reported above

 

$

0.18

 

$

0.10

 

$

0.34

 

$

0.21

 

Pro forma stock-based compensation expense per share

 

 

(0.01

)

(0.01

)

(0.02

)

Basic net earnings per share – pro forma

 

$

0.18

 

$

0.09

 

$

0.33

 

$

0.19

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Diluted net earnings per share under U.S. GAAP – as reported above

 

$

0.18

 

$

0.10

 

$

0.33

 

$

0.21

 

Pro forma stock-based compensation expense per share

 

 

(0.01

)

(0.01

)

(0.02

)

Diluted net earnings per share – pro forma

 

$

0.18

 

$

0.09

 

$

0.32

 

$

0.19

 

 

23



 

Fair values

 

The fair values of awards granted were estimated using the Black-Scholes option-pricing model.  The Black-Scholes model was developed to estimate the fair value of traded options and awards, which have no vesting restrictions, and are fully transferable.  The Black-Scholes model requires the input of highly subjective assumptions including the expected stock price volatility and expected time until exercise. Because the Company’s employee stock options and stock awards have characteristics significantly different from those of traded options and awards, and because changes in the subjective input assumptions can materially affect the fair value estimate, in management’s opinion, existing models, including the Black-Scholes model, do not necessarily provide a reliable single measure of the fair value of its employee stock options and stock awards.

 

b) Intangible assets

 

In connection with the acquisition of Comshare on August 6, 2003, in-process research and development was acquired and capitalized under Canadian GAAP.  Under U.S. GAAP, such in-process research and development is charged to expense at the acquisition date.  As a result, under U.S. GAAP, the carrying value of the Company’s intangible assets on the consolidated balance sheet would be $27,167 (April 30, 2004 - $31,320) and the value of the Company’s long-term future income tax assets would be $23,039 (April 30, 2004 - $22,264).

 

c) Asset retirement obligation

 

Under U.S. GAAP, the Company adopted a new accounting standard dealing with accounting for asset retirement obligations during the year ended April 30, 2004.  This new accounting standard addresses the financial accounting and reporting for legal obligations associated with the retirement of tangible long-lived assets and associated retirement costs and is relatively consistent with Canadian requirements, which the Company adopted under Canadian GAAP (see note 3).  The main difference between the two standards is the method of adoption.  U.S. GAAP requires that the adoption be treated as a cumulative effect of an accounting change in fiscal 2004, whereas Canadian GAAP allows the financial statements of prior periods to be restated retroactively.  The adoption of the standard for U.S. GAAP resulted in the cumulative effect of an accounting change of $736 being charged against earnings in the quarter ending April 30, 2004 and the reversal of charges under Canadian GAAP of $40 and $80 charged against earnings for the three and six months ended October 31, 2004, respectively.

 

d)            Income taxes

 

Included in “Income taxes” is the tax effect of the adjustments related to intangible assets.

 

e) Goodwill

 

Although the new Canadian GAAP section for Income Taxes is substantially harmonized with U.S. GAAP, it was applied prospectively and goodwill was not adjusted, resulting in differing carrying values of goodwill under Canadian and U.S. GAAP.  Under U.S. GAAP, the carrying value of goodwill on the consolidated balance sheet would be $105,794 (April 30, 2004 - $111,235).

 

f)    Related party transactions

 

Accounts receivable and other receivables as at October 31, 2004 and April 30, 2004 included $254 for a loan due from a former officer of the Company in connection with a compensatory arrangement relating to his employment with the CompanyThe proceeds from the loan were used by the former officer to purchase 250,625 common shares of the

 

24



 

Company, which are currently held as collateral.  Under Canadian GAAP, the loan is classified as an other receivable.  However, under U.S. GAAP, the loan is classified as a reduction of shareholders’ equity.  As a result, in accordance with U.S. GAAP, current and total assets and shareholders’ equity would be reduced by $254.

 

11.  Reclassification of comparative figures

 

Certain prior year’s comparative figures in the accompanying interim financial statements have been reclassified to conform to the current year’s presentation.

 

25


EX-99.2 3 a04-14524_1ex99d2.htm EX-99.2

Exhibit 99.2

 

Management Discussion and Analysis

 

The following management discussion and analysis of results of operations and financial position (“MD&A”) should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and notes for the three and six months ended October 31, 2004 (“the second quarter of FY 2005”) and the audited financial statements and notes for the fiscal year ended April 30, 2004 (“FY 2004”).  This MD&A is prepared as of November 30, 2004 and updates our financial condition and results of operations from the MD&A included in our FY 2004 Annual Report (the “Annual MD&A”).  The Annual MD&A was prepared with reference to National Instrument 51-102 of the Canadian Securities Administrators (“NI 51-102”) and as a result this MD&A is prepared on the basis of the disclosure requirements for interim MD&A in NI 51-102.  This MD&A, and other reports, statements and communications to shareholders and others, as well as oral statements made by our directors, officers or agents, contain forward-looking statements, including statements regarding the future success of our business and technology strategies, future market opportunities and future financial performance or results. These forward-looking statements are neither promises nor guarantees, but rather are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, each of which could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements.  Some of the risks and uncertainties that may cause such variation are discussed below.  You should not place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements, which are current only as of the date when made.  You should not expect that these forward-looking statements will be updated or supplemented as a result of changing circumstances or otherwise more frequently than as may be required in connection with the release of our quarterly reporting of financial results.  You should understand that the sole purpose of discussing these risks and uncertainties is to alert you to certain factors which could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements and not to describe facts, trends and circumstances that could have an impact on the Company’s results.

 

Our financial statements (and all financial data that has been derived therefrom and included in this MD&A) are prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in Canada (“Canadian GAAP”).  Note 10 to our consolidated financial statements sets out the differences between accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (“U.S. GAAP”) and Canadian GAAP that would affect our consolidated financial statements.  As used in this discussion and unless the context otherwise requires or unless otherwise indicated, all references to “Geac”, “we”, “our”, “us”, “the Company” or similar expressions refer to Geac Computer Corporation Limited and its consolidated subsidiaries.  All dollar amounts herein are expressed in U.S. dollars unless otherwise noted, and references to “FY” are references to our fiscal year- end on April 30 of each year.

 

This MD&A, the related financial statements and notes and additional information about Geac, including Geac’s Annual Information Form and its Annual Report for FY 2004, can be viewed on the Company’s website at www.geac.com and through the SEDAR

 

1



 

website at www.sedar.com and the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) website at www.sec.gov.

 

Geac’s common shares trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol “GAC” and on the NASDAQ National Market under the symbol “GEAC”.  Geac had 85,618,169 common shares issued and outstanding on November 30, 2004.

 

Overview

 

We are a leading global provider of software solutions for businesses, providing customers worldwide with financial and operational technology solutions to monitor, manage and improve their businesses’ performance.  Our software solutions include cross-industry enterprise application systems (“EAS”) that offer financial administration and human resources functions, expense management, time capture, budgeting, forecasting, financial consolidation, management reporting and analysis and enterprise resource planning (“ERP”) applications.  We also provide industry-specific applications (“ISA”) for the local government, library, real estate, construction, property management, restaurants and public safety marketplaces, including integrated EAS products for certain of these vertical markets.  We also are pursuing a strategy of market leadership in the business performance management (“BPM”) marketplace by offering a growing suite of BPM applications that allows customers to take transactional data and undertake analysis and create reports to enable more informed decision making at the operational and executive levels.

 

In addition to the sale of software applications, we provide a broad range of professional services related to our software, including application hosting, consulting, implementation and integration services, and training.

 

Today we provide our software and services to approximately 18,000 customers worldwide, including many of the largest companies in the world, who rely on our software applications for their financial transaction analysis and operational processing.  Geac is headquartered in Markham, Ontario and employs approximately 2,200 people globally.

 

Economic and Market Environment

 

Our business activity may be impacted by the following general industry trends identified by our observations of competitive activities in the software marketplace, customer feedback and reports from industry analysts.

 

Industry Consolidation – We believe the software industry in general, and the ERP market in particular, continues to consolidate.  This consolidation has resulted in an environment in which we often compete with large, independent software vendors, resulting in significant pricing pressure.  To maintain and to improve our competitive position within the industry, we believe we must continue to develop and to introduce, in a timely and cost-effective manner, new products, product features and services, and to acquire or partner with businesses having offerings complementary to ours.

 

2



 

Return on Investment (“ROI”) – We view the Chief Financial Officer (“CFO”) of a business as our principal customer.  The CFO continually faces the challenges of managing expenses while growing revenue, overseeing increasingly complex businesses processes, and complying with myriad regulatory and reporting requirements.  Our experience indicates that central to a CFO’s purchasing decision is whether implementing a technology solution will meet the current business requirements and generate a prescribed payback.  We strive to offer products and services that help the CFO to improve the performance of his or her business by utilizing that business’s existing ERP systems, thereby avoiding the high costs, and significant disruption, of replacing those systems.  In order to be successful, we will have to continue to deliver solutions that allow our customers to achieve such quantifiable ROI.

 

Integrated Business Solutions – Beyond simply meeting current business needs, we believe that customers desire integrated, end-to-end solutions that link their transactional data and business processes along their “financial value chain”.  One of our strategic objectives is to continue to integrate our product offerings and transform Geac into a software company uniquely geared to optimizing each customer’s financial value chain.

 

Geac Growth Strategy- Software Revenue Growth

 

Our ability to generate new software license revenue through sales to existing and net new customers, particularly in growth markets like BPM, has and will continue to play a critically important role in our growth strategy.  We believe that by continuing to pursue our three execution strategies – “Build, Buy and Partner” – we may increase software license revenue growth and decrease maintenance attrition.

 

Build:  Organic Growth

 

We have identified the following key business drivers to facilitate organic growth:

 

Geac Performance Management – GPM is our integrated product suite that enables companies to manage data efficiently, accurately and on a timely basis to allow such data to be used effectively in making operational decisions.  GPM’s more sophisticated features allow companies to tighten the link between business strategy formulation and operational execution by measuring progress and tracking results.  While we continue to sell GPM products on a stand-alone basis to customers who use non-Geac back office systems, we have also successfully integrated GPM into several of our core ERP products, including Enterprise Server, Smartstream and System21.

 

Product Expansion – We continue to develop new products and services and enhance our existing products and services as a means of increasing the depth and breadth of our product offerings.  In the second quarter of FY 2005, we released four

 

3



 

internally developed products: Geac Compliance Management 2.0, SmartSeries 5.3, Vubis Smart 2.3 and Anael RH.  We also have continued to take steps to expand the functionality of certain of our existing products by integrating them with our GPM product suite.  Finally, we have expanded the reach of certain of our existing products by adapting and introducing them into new geographic markets.  In the second quarter of FY 2005, we sold the first Vubis Smart application (which was developed for the European market) in the Unites States and we are adapting our Local Government product (which was developed for the Australian market) for sale in the United Kingdom.

 

Maintenance Revenue – Maintenance revenue currently is the largest component of our business’s total revenue.  In the second quarter of FY 2005, we have been, and continue to be, successful in maintaining the financial rate of attrition of our legacy EAS business segment below the approximate 10% rate established in FY 2004.

 

Buy:  Growth Through Acquisitions

 

Currently, we are largely dependent on acquisitions for overall revenue growth.  We believe that such dependency will diminish at such time as organic growth of software license revenue outpaces the loss of revenue due to maintenance attrition.  We continue to pursue technologies and companies having complementary products that could drive growth.  We target acquisitions that could enhance our integrated offerings, be consolidated into, and create synergies with, our existing businesses, and could be sold to our existing customer base.  Although we are focused on expansion of our GPM business, acquisition targets could be in the EAS or ISA markets, provided they meet our established criteria described above.  Many recent transactions in the software industry in general, and the BPM segment in particular, have occurred at valuations with multiples exceeding two times revenue.  Given Geac’s own enterprise value to revenue ratio of approximately 1.3-to-1 as of the end of the second quarter of FY 2005, these valuations have put Geac at a competitive disadvantage by restricting Geac’s ability to make accretive acquisitions.

 

Partner:  Strengthening Relationships

 

In an effort to generate a greater return from our distributor network, we have developed a partner certification program for resellers of our MPC product suite.  We currently have over 50 partner organizations registered, with approximately 370 of their consultants progressing through the certification program.  The number of partners who are participating in this program demonstrates our partners’ commitment to our GPM product suite and is creating a more valuable service offering to our GPM customers.

 

4



 

Results of Operations

(all dollar figures in tables are presented in thousands of U.S. dollars)

 

The second quarter of FY 2005 proved to be a challenging quarter for software license revenue growth.  Software and support and services revenue were essentially unchanged year over year on a quarterly basis.  Net earnings, however, increased by $4.9 million despite a $5.0 million decrease in total revenue, in the same comparative quarter.  We will continue to manage profitability and build our cash position while we focus on selling more software licenses for internally developed and acquired software products.

 

Revenue

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Percentage of total revenue

 

 

 

Three months ended
October 31,

 

Six months ended
October 31,

 

Three months ended
October 31,

 

Six months ended
October 31,

 

 

 

2004

 

2003

 

2004

 

2003

 

2004

 

2003

 

2004

 

2003

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Software

 

$

15,064

 

$

15,282

 

$

30,559

 

$

28,131

 

14.2

%

13.7

%

14.3

%

13.2

%

Support and services

 

88,890

 

89,459

 

178,360

 

171,911

 

83.5

%

80.3

%

83.6

%

80.7

%

Hardware

 

2,476

 

6,726

 

4,379

 

12,950

 

2.3

%

6.0

%

2.1

%

6.1

%

Total revenues

 

$

106,430

 

$

111,467

 

$

213,298

 

$

212,992

 

100.0

%

100.0

%

100.0

%

100.0

%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

$ Change

 

% Change

 

 

 

Three months ended
October 31,

 

Six months ended
October 31,

 

Three
months
ended
October 31

 

Six
months
ended
October 31

 

Three
months
ended
October 31

 

Six
months
ended
October 31

 

 

 

2004

 

2003

 

2004

 

2003

 

2003 to 2004

 

2003 to 2004

 

2003 to 2004

 

2003 to 2004

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

EAS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Software

 

$

12,167

 

$

12,889

 

$

25,475

 

$

23,185

 

$

(722

)

$

2,290

 

(5.6

)%

9.9

%

Support and services

 

68,846

 

69,324

 

138,542

 

131,472

 

(478

)

7,070

 

(0.7

)%

5.4

%

Hardware

 

1,749

 

5,742

 

3,185

 

10,884

 

(3,993

)

(7,699

)

(69.5

)%

(70.7

)%

Total revenues

 

$

82,762

 

$

87,955

 

$

167,202

 

$

165,541

 

$

(5,193

)

$

1,661

 

(5.9

)%

1.0

%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ISA

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Software

 

$

2,897

 

$

2,393

 

$

5,084

 

$

4,946

 

$

504

 

$

138

 

21.1

%

2.8

%

Support and services

 

20,044

 

20,135

 

39,818

 

40,439

 

(91

)

(621

)

(0.5

)%

(1.5

)%

Hardware

 

727

 

984

 

1,194

 

2,066

 

(257

)

(872

)

(26.1

)%

(42.2

)%

Total revenues

 

$

23,668

 

$

23,512

 

$

46,096

 

$

47,451

 

$

156

 

$

(1,355

)

0.7

%

(2.9

)%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Total revenues

 

$

106,430

 

$

111,467

 

$

213,298

 

$

212,992

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The decline in total revenue was predominantly due to the decline in hardware revenue. This decline was anticipated and is expected to continue as we continue to sell hardware predominantly to accommodate customer requests.  Software license revenue was essentially unchanged in the second quarter of FY 2005 when compared to the second quarter of FY 2004. As the software industry continues to consolidate, substantially all of our new license opportunities are characterized by competitive bidding situations. This, in turn, increases sales cycle durations and impacts pricing.  Support and services revenue also was essentially unchanged in the second quarter of FY 2005 compared to the second quarter of FY 2004.  Our normal support revenue attrition was offset by an increase in support revenue attributable to our GPM product suite.

 

5



 

Total revenue in the EAS segment declined 5.9%, or $5.2 million, to $82.8 million for the second quarter of FY 2005, compared to $88.0 million in the second quarter of FY 2004.  The decline in revenue for this period was attributable to a decline of 5.6%, or $0.7 million, in software license revenue, a decline of 0.7% or $0.5 million, in support and services revenue, and a decline of 69.5%, or $4.0 million, in hardware revenue.  We did however, experience growth in software license revenue in several of our key product groups. For example, Smartstream, Enterprise Server and MPC, all experienced software license revenue growth for the second quarter of FY 2005 compared to the same quarter in the previous year.  Support revenue of $47.7 million in the second quarter of FY 2005 was essentially unchanged from the second quarter of FY 2004.  The decline in support and services revenue was principally attributable to the continued attrition in our EAS legacy products.  This decline was offset by an increase in our MPC-related support and services revenue for the second quarter of FY 2005.  The decline in hardware revenue for the second quarter of FY 2005 compared to the second quarter of FY 2004 was prevalent across all EAS product lines where hardware revenue is a component of total revenue.

 

Total revenue in the EAS segment increased 1.0%, or $1.7 million, to $167.2 million for the six months ended October 31, 2004 from $165.5 million for the same period in the previous year.  Software license revenue and support and services revenue increased $2.3 million and $7.1 million respectively for the six months ended October 31, 2004 compared to the same period in the previous year.  The increase in software license revenue was principally attributable to an increase in MPC-related product sales and growth in our SmartStream and System21 software license sales.  The increase in support and services revenue was predominately attributable to an increase in revenue from sales of our MPC-related products offset by a decline in maintenance revenue due to maintenance attrition in our EAS legacy products.

 

Revenue in the ISA segment was essentially unchanged for the quarter ended October 31, 2004 compared to the same quarter of the previous year.  The increase in software license revenue was due to deals won in the quarter with both new and existing customers in our Local Government, Restaurants, Interealty, and Library business.  For the six months ended October 31, 2004, ISA revenue declined 2.9%, or $1.4 million, to $46.1 million from $47.5 million for the six months ended October 31, 2003.  The decline in revenue was attributable to a decline in both support and services and hardware revenue of $0.6 million and $0.9 million respectively offset by an increase in software license revenue of $0.1 million.  This $1.4 million decline was primarily attributable to a $1.3 million decline in the Commercial Systems business due to ongoing competition in this market and continued maintenance attrition, and a $0.4 million decline in the Restaurants business primarily attributable to a decline in hardware sales.  These declines were partially offset by an increase in the Local Government business of $0.6 million.

 

6



 

Gross Profit

 

 

 

Three months ended
October 31,

 

Six months ended
October 31,

 

 

 

2004

 

2003

 

2004

 

2003

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gross profit on software revenue

 

85.9

%

85.1

%

87.5

%

85.3

%

Gross profit on support and services revenue

 

60.9

%

58.5

%

61.3

%

58.8

%

Gross profit on hardware revenue

 

24.2

%

13.3

%

22.1

%

14.3

%

Gross profit on total revenue

 

63.6

%

59.4

%

64.3

%

59.6

%

 

Gross profit increased from $66.2 million or 59.4% of total revenue in the second quarter of FY 2004 to $67.7 million or 63.6% of total revenue in the second quarter of FY 2005.  Gross profit increased from $126.9 million or 59.6% of total revenue for the six months ended October 31, 2003 to $137.1 million or 64.3% of total revenue for the six months ended October 31, 2004.  Although gross profit improvement occurred on all revenue lines, higher margin software and support and services revenue continued to replace lower margin hardware revenue, which had a positive impact on the overall gross profit.  Management is uncertain whether we can maintain this level of gross profit in future quarters.  The increase in gross profit on software revenue for the second quarter of FY 2005 was partially due to the successful settlement of our claim against a third-party software vendor for amounts previously written off in FY 2002.  No additional amounts are expected from this settlement in the future.  The increase in our gross profit on support revenue is due to the focus on the efficiency and utilization rate of our support infrastructure in conjunction with single-digit support revenue attrition.  The gross profit on our services has remained consistent for the second quarter of Q2 FY 2005 compared to the same period in the previous year.

 

Operating Expenses

 

Overall operating expenses decreased 7.1%, or $3.6 million, to $47.2 million in the second quarter of FY 2005, from $50.8 million in the second quarter of FY 2004.  As a percentage of total revenue, operating expenses decreased from 45.6% in the second quarter of FY 2004 to 44.4% in the second quarter of FY 2005.  Sales and marketing, product development, and general and administrative expenses decreased by 11.6%, or $6.0 million, mainly attributable to a decline in personnel and related expenses, and the success of our ongoing cost-management efforts.

 

Overall operating expenses decreased 1.3%, or $1.3 million, to $96.1 million for the six months ended October 31, 2004, from $97.4 million for the six months ended October 31, 2003.  As a percentage of total revenue, operating expenses decreased from 45.7% for the six months ended October 31, 2003 to 45.0% for the six months ended October 31, 2004.  Sales and marketing, product development, and general and administrative expenses decreased by 4.7%, or $4.6 million primarily as a result of our ongoing management of expenses.  Our headcount decreased by approximately 300 employees from approximately 2,500 employees at the end of the second quarter of FY 2004 to approximately 2,200 employees at the end of the second quarter of FY 2005.

 

7



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

$ Change

 

% Change

 

 

 

Three months ended

 

Six months ended

 

Three
months
ended

 

Six
months
ended

 

Three
months
ended

 

Six
months
ended

 

 

 

October 31,

 

October 31,

 

October 31

 

October 31

 

October 31

 

October 31

 

 

 

2004

 

2003

 

2004

 

2003

 

2003 to 2004

 

2003 to 2004

 

2003 to 2004

 

2003 to 2004

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sales and marketing

 

$

17,699

 

$

20,085

 

$

36,233

 

$

36,224

 

$

(2,386

)

$

9

 

(11.9

)%

0.0

%

Product development

 

13,906

 

15,453

 

28,299

 

28,751

 

(1,547

)

(452

)

(10.0

)%

(1.6

)%

General and administrative

 

13,709

 

15,736

 

28,014

 

32,166

 

(2,027

)

(4,152

)

(12.9

)%

(12.9

)%

 

Sales and Marketing - Sales and marketing expenses decreased 11.9%, or $2.4 million, in the second quarter of FY 2005 compared to the second quarter of FY 2004.  As a percentage of total revenue, sales and marketing expenses decreased from 18.0% in the second quarter of FY 2004 to 16.6% in the second quarter of FY 2005.  As a percentage of total revenue sales, marketing expenses were 17.0% for both the six months ended October 31, 2004 and October 31, 2003.  The decrease in expenses for the second quarter of FY 2005 compared to the second quarter of FY 2004 was predominantly attributable to lower personnel and related costs.  In the future, sales and marketing expenses may increase as a percentage of total revenue as we continue to focus on growing new software license revenue.

 

Product Development - Product development expenses decreased 10.0%, or $1.5 million, in the second quarter of FY 2005 compared to the second quarter of FY 2004.  As a percentage of total revenue, product development expenses decreased from 13.9% in the second quarter of FY 2004 to 13.1% in the second quarter of FY 2005.  As a percentage of total revenue, product development expenses were 13.3% for the six months ended October 31, 2004 and 13.5% for the six months ended October 31, 2003.  The decrease in both the three and six month periods ended October 31, 2004, reflect lower personnel and related costs resulting from decreased development requirements in various product areas and savings realized through outsourcing arrangements.  In the future, product development expenses and associated risks may increase as we continue to execute on our strategy of internal product development and enhancing and integrating our suite of products.

 

We currently do not have any capitalized software development costs. Software development costs are expensed as incurred unless they meet generally accepted accounting criteria for deferral and amortization.  Software development costs incurred prior to the establishment of technological feasibility do not meet these criteria, and are expensed as incurred.  Capitalized costs would be amortized over the estimated benefit period of the software developed.  No costs were deferred in the three and six months ended October 31, 2004 and October 31, 2003 as most projects did not meet the criteria for deferral and, for those projects that met these criteria, the period between achieving technological feasibility and the general availability of the product was minimal, and the associated costs insignificant.

 

8



 

General and Administrative - General and administrative expenses decreased 12.9%, or $2.0 million, in the second quarter of FY 2005 compared to the second quarter of FY 2004.  As a percentage of total revenue, general and administrative expenses decreased from 14.1% in the second quarter of FY 2004 to 12.9% in the second quarter of FY 2005.  General and administrative expenses decreased $4.2 million to $28.0 million for the six months ended October 31, 2004, from $32.2 million for the six months ended October 31, 2003.  As a percentage of total revenue general and administrative expenses were 13.1% for the six months ended October 31, 2004 and 15.1% for the six months ended October 31, 2003.  This decrease was mainly attributable to expenses incurred in the three and six-month periods ended October 31, 2003 related to legal settlements, professional fees, and personnel costs associated with realigning our business, which were not required during the same periods in FY 2005.  The decrease was also due to reduced professional fees as a result of the hiring of additional personnel.  It is anticipated that general and administrative expenses in future quarters will be adversely and significantly impacted by expenses pertaining to our compliance with new corporate governance regulations and requirements.

 

Net Restructuring and Other Unusual Items - Net restructuring and other unusual items in the second quarter of FY 2005 yielded a credit of $0.4 million, and for the six months ended October 31, 2004, a credit of $1.0 million.  The credit of $0.4 million and $1.0 million were mainly due to the release of premises reserves in our European- based-businesses that were accounted for in prior years and determined to be no longer required due to negotiated settlements upon the expiry of the leases.  Net restructuring and other unusual items in the second quarter of FY 2004 yielded a credit of $2.7 million, and for the six months ended October 31, 2003, a credit of $2.8 million.  The credit of $2.7 million in the second quarter of FY 2004 included a reversal of $2.8 million of accrued liabilities and other provisions recorded in prior years primarily related to premises and severance reserves.  These releases of reserves resulted from changes in circumstances such as negotiated settlements of vacated premises leases.

 

Amortization of Intangible Assets – Amortization of intangible assets was $2.3 million in each of the second quarters of FY 2005 and FY 2004.  Amortization of intangible assets increased from $3.0 million in the six months ended October 31, 2003 to $4.5 million in the six months ended October 31, 2004.  This increase was attributable to the amortization of intangible assets acquired in conjunction with the purchase of Comshare, which we acquired in the second quarter of FY 2004.

 

Interest Income - Interest income was $0.7 million in the second quarter of FY 2005, compared to $0.2 million in the second quarter of FY 2004.  Interest income was $1.2 million in the six months ended October 31, 2004 compared to $0.6 million in the six months ended October 31, 2003.  The increase in interest income was primarily a result of higher average cash balances, higher interest rates, and more effective cash management in the first two quarters of FY 2005 compared to the first two quarters of the previous year.

 

9



 

Interest Expense - Interest expense was $0.4 million in the second quarter of FY 2005, compared to $0.3 million in the second quarter of FY 2004.  Interest expense was $0.8 million in the six months ended October 31, 2004 compared to $0.4 million in the six months ended October 31, 2003.  This increase was attributable to the amortization of financing costs related to the $50.0 million credit facility obtained in second quarter of FY 2004.

 

Other Income (Expense) - Other income in the second quarter of FY 2005 was $0.7 million compared to other expense of $0.4 million in the second quarter of FY 2004.  Other income in the six months ended October 31, 2004 was $0.2 million compared to other expense of $0.8 million in the six months ended October 31, 2003.  The increase in other income was attributable to a net gain on foreign exchange primarily due to the continued strengthening of the Canadian Dollar, British Pound Sterling and the Euro against the U.S. Dollar.

 

Income Taxes - We operate globally, and we calculate our tax provision in each of the jurisdictions in which we conduct business.  Our tax rate is therefore affected by the relative profitability of our operations in those various countries.  The provision for income taxes was $6.3 million in the second quarter of FY 2005, compared to $4.6 million in the corresponding period in FY 2004.  The effective tax rate for the second quarter of FY 2005 was 29.1%, compared to the effective tax rate in the second quarter of FY 2004 of 31.1%.  The provision for income taxes was $12.9 million for the six months ended October 31, 2004, compared to $9.3 million in the corresponding period for the last fiscal year.  The effective tax rate for the six months ended October 31, 2004 was 31.0%, and the effective tax rate in the six months ended October 31, 2003 was 32.2%.  The decrease in the effective tax rate for both the three and six-month periods ended October 31, 2004 was due to the use of previously unrecorded operating losses, as well as a release of provisions established in prior periods due to changes in circumstances.

 

Of the total $6.3 million provision for income taxes recorded in the second quarter of FY 2005, $4.8 million reflects the utilization of income tax assets and $1.5 million represents current taxes payable.  In the second quarter of FY 2004, $3.1 million reflected the utilization of income tax assets and $1.5 million represented current taxes payable.

 

Of the total $12.9 million provision for income taxes recorded for the six months ended October 31, 2004, $9.6 million reflects the utilization of income tax assets and $3.3 million represents current taxes payable. In the corresponding period in FY 2004 $6.4 million reflected the utilization of income tax assets and $2.9 million represented taxes paid in cash.

 

Under the current facts and circumstances, we anticipate that the effective tax rate for FY 2005 will be below the effective tax rate for FY 2004.

 

10



 

Net Earnings - Net earnings increased 48.1%, or $4.9 million, to $15.2 million, or $0.17 per diluted share, in the second quarter of FY 2005, compared to $10.3 million, or $0.12 per diluted share, in the second quarter of FY 2004.  Net earnings increased 46.3%, or $9.1 million to $28.7 million, or $0.33 per diluted share, for the six months ended October 31, 2004, compared to $19.6 million, or $0.23 per diluted share for the six months ended October 31, 2003.

 

Compared to FY 2004, currency fluctuations (primarily attributable to the continued strengthening of the Euro and British Pound Sterling against the U.S. Dollar) had the effect of increasing net earnings by $0.6 million, or $0.01 per diluted share, in the second quarter of FY 2005, and $1.2 million, or $0.01 per diluted share for the six months ended October 31, 2004.  The net increase in net earnings in the second quarter of FY 2005 resulted from a foreign exchange gain on revenue of $4.3 million, offset by a foreign exchange loss on expenses of $3.7 million.  The net increase in net earnings in the six months ended October 31, 2004 resulted from a foreign exchange gain on revenue of $8.1 million, offset by a foreign exchange loss on expenses of $6.9 million.

 

Summary of Quarterly Results

 

The following table sets forth in summary form the unaudited consolidated statements of earnings for each of our most recently completed eight fiscal quarters.  Our data was derived from our unaudited consolidated statements of earnings that were prepared on the same basis as the annual audited consolidated statements of earnings and, in our opinion, include all adjustments necessary for a fair presentation of such information.  These unaudited quarterly results should be read in conjunction with our audited consolidated financial statements and notes thereto for FY 2004 and FY 2003.  The consolidated results of operations for any quarter are not necessarily indicative of the results for any future period.

 

Condensed Consolidated Quarterly Statements of Earnings

(In thousands of U.S. dollars, except per share data)

 

 

 

2003

 

2004

 

2005

 

 

 

Quarter 3

 

Quarter 4

 

Quarter 1

 

Quarter 2

 

Quarter 3

 

Quarter 4

 

Quarter 1

 

Quarter 2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Total revenue

 

$

102,588

 

$

102,588

 

$

101,525

 

$

111,467

 

$

116,175

 

$

116,105

 

$

106,868

 

$

106,430

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cost of revenue

 

41,863

 

39,785

 

40,836

 

45,227

 

45,991

 

43,042

 

37,471

 

38,755

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gross profit

 

60,725

 

62,803

 

60,689

 

66,240

 

70,184

 

73,063

 

69,397

 

67,675

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Operating expenses

 

42,494

 

60,914

 

46,528

 

50,837

 

51,901

 

48,672

 

48,825

 

47,237

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Earnings from operations

 

18,231

 

1,889

 

14,161

 

15,403

 

18,283

 

24,391

 

20,572

 

20,438

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Net earnings

 

12,013

 

(2,265

)

9,367

 

10,264

 

13,754

 

23,781

 

13,512

 

15,204

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Basic EPS

 

0.15

 

(0.03

)

0.11

 

0.12

 

0.16

 

0.28

 

0.16

 

0.18

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Diluted EPS

 

0.15

 

(0.03

)

0.11

 

0.12

 

0.16

 

0.27

 

0.15

 

0.17

 

 

Note: Some of the amounts have been restated to reflect the adoption of new accounting standards, see “notes 2, 3 of the October 31, 2004 unaudited interim financial statements”.

 

11



 

Liquidity and Financial Condition

 

 

 

As at
October 31,

 

As at
April 30,

 


Change

 

 

 

2004

 

2004

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cash and cash equivalents

 

$

121,813

 

$

112,550

 

$

9,263

 

Current assets

 

190,135

 

195,192

 

(5,057

)

Total assets

 

392,059

 

406,903

 

(14,844

)

Current liabilities

 

183,276

 

232,520

 

(49,244

)

Long-term liabilities

 

36,849

 

38,312

 

(1,463

)

Total shareholders’ equity

 

171,934

 

136,071

 

35,863

 

 

At October 31, 2004, cash and cash equivalents totalled $121.8 million, compared to $112.6 million at April 30, 2004.

 

Total assets decreased $14.8 million from $406.9 million at April 30, 2004 to $392.1 million at October 31, 2004.  The decrease was primarily attributable to the reduction in accounts receivable and other receivables related to our continued efforts to improve our days’ sales outstanding (DSO), the seasonality of our quarterly sales, and a decrease in intangible assets resulting from the amortization in the period.  The decrease in total assets was also, in part, due to the utilizations of future tax assets in the period of $9.2 million.  This was offset by a release of valuation allowance related to future tax assets in the amount of $5.7 million in connection with the acquisition of Comshare.  The $5.7 million resulted in a corresponding decrease in the goodwill associated with that acquisition.

 

Current liabilities decreased $49.2 million from $232.5 million at April 30, 2004, to $183.3 million at October 31, 2004.  This decrease was primarily a result of a reduction in accounts payable and accrued liabilities and deferred revenue.  The decrease in accounts payable and accrued liabilities was primarily attributable to the payment of FY 2004 compensation accruals and legal settlements of approximately $4.2 million, as well as the release of previously accrued premises and restructuring reserves that as a result of a change in circumstances were no longer required.  Deferred revenue is primarily composed of deferred maintenance and support revenues, which are recognized ratably over the term of the related maintenance agreement, normally one year, and deferred professional services revenue, which is recognized as such services are performed.  The decrease in deferred revenue was due to both the seasonal nature of our sales cycles and maintenance attrition.  We continue to see the largest volume of maintenance renewal contracts in the third quarter of our fiscal year, therefore the decrease in deferred revenue in this quarter was expected.

 

Net Changes in Cash Flow

 

 

 

Three months ended
October 31,

 

$
Change

 

Six months ended
October 31,

 

$
Change

 

 

 

2004

 

2003

 

 

2004

 

2003

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities

 

$

2,894

 

$

(2,208

)

$

5,102

 

$

5,060

 

$

(2,727

)

$

7,787

 

Net cash used in investing activities

 

(925

)

(38,599

)

37,674

 

(1,945

)

(40,049

)

38,104

 

Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities

 

603

 

(1,686

)

2,289

 

1,985

 

(1,794

)

3,779

 

Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents

 

3,179

 

749

 

2,430

 

4,163

 

1,624

 

2,539

 

Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents

 

5,751

 

(41,744

)

47,495

 

9,263

 

(42,946

)

52,209

 

 

12



 

The improvement in net cash provided by operating activities for both the three and six-month periods ended October 31, 2004 was primarily attributable to higher net income, along with improvements in accounts receivable collections, partially offset by the expected seasonal change in the deferred revenue balance.

 

Net cash used in investing activities decreased for both the three and six-month periods ended October 31, 2004 primarily due to the purchase of Comshare in August of 2003.

 

The difference in net cash provided by financing activities for both the three and six-month periods ended October 31, 2004 was attributable to financing costs incurred in the second quarter of FY 2004 related to the credit facility obtained in the second quarter of FY 2004, offset by cash proceeds from the exercise of stock options.

 

Capital Resources and Commitments

 

We obtained a credit facility in the second quarter of FY 2004 that is collateralized by substantially all of our assets and the assets of certain of our U.S. and Canadian subsidiaries.  This facility is guaranteed by certain of our U.S., Canadian, U.K and Hungarian subsidiaries.  The facility is available for our working capital needs and other general corporate purposes and for the needs of our subsidiaries that are parties to the facility agreement.  As of October 31, 2004, $1.8 million of the $50.0 million letter of credit sub-facility had been utilized, and the remaining $48.2 million revolving line of credit was available for future cash needs.

 

We do not enter into off-balance sheet financing as a general practice.  Except for operating leases, uncollateralized bank guarantees and uncollateralized letters of credit all of our commitments are reflected in our balance sheets.  Commitments include operating leases for office equipment and premises, letters of credit, bank guarantees, and performance bonds that are routinely issued on our behalf by financial institutions, in each case, primarily in connection with premises leases and contracts with public- sector customers.  We do not have any other business arrangements, derivative financial instruments, or any equity interests in unconsolidated companies that would have a significant effect on our assets and liabilities at October 31, 2004.

 

Foreign Currency Risk

 

We operate internationally and have foreign currency risks related to our revenue and operating expenses denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar.  Consequently, we believe movements in the foreign currencies in which we transact could significantly affect future net earnings.

 

13



 

Risks and Uncertainties

 

We operate in a dynamic and rapidly changing environment and industry, which exposes us to numerous risks and uncertainties.  The following section describes some, but not all, of the risks and uncertainties that may adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations.  Additional risks and uncertainties not described below or not presently known to us may also affect our business, financial condition or results of operations.  If any of these risks occurs, our business, financial condition, or results of operations could be seriously harmed.  This section should be read in conjunction with the unaudited consolidated financial statements for the quarter ended October 31, 2004 and the audited Consolidated Financial Statements for the year ended April 30, 2004 and Notes thereto, and the other parts of this MD&A.

 

We have had losses in the past and may not maintain our current profitability in the future.  The trading price of our common shares may fall if we fail to maintain profitability or generate sufficient cash from operations.

 

We generated net earnings of $28.7 million for the six months ended October 31, 2004 and $57.2 million for the year ended April 30, 2004.  Although we had net earnings for the past three fiscal years, we had a net loss of $169.4 million for the year ended April 30, 2001.  In the past, our losses have resulted principally from costs incurred to realign our global operations and our conclusion that the goodwill we carried on our consolidated balance sheet was impaired.  Although we recently achieved profitability, we expect to continue experiencing fluctuations in our operating results and cannot assure sustained profitability.

 

As we grow our business, we expect operating expenses and capital expenditures to increase correspondingly, and as a result, we will need to generate significant revenue to maintain profitability.  We may not be able to sustain or to increase profitability or cash flows from operations on a quarterly or annual basis in the future and could incur losses in future periods.  If our revenues decline as they have in past years, our operating results could be seriously impaired because many of our expenses are fixed and cannot be easily or quickly reduced.  A failure to maintain profitability could materially and adversely affect our business.

 

In FY 2003, we recorded goodwill impairment and net restructuring and other unusual items of $15.1 million related to significant write-downs of goodwill and intangible assets, as well as to restructuring efforts intended to reduce costs and more efficiently organize our operations.

 

Although no such write-downs or charges were required during FY 2004, we periodically review the value of acquired intangibles and goodwill to determine whether any impairment exists and could write-down a portion of our intangible assets and goodwill as part of any such future review.  We also periodically review opportunities to more efficiently organize operations, and may record further restructuring charges in connection with any such reorganization.  Any write-down of intangible assets or goodwill or restructuring charges in the future could affect our results of operations materially and adversely.

 

14



 

Our revenues and operating results fluctuate significantly from quarter to quarter, and the trading price of our common shares could fall if our revenues or operating results are below the expectations of analysts or investors.

 

Our revenues and operating results fluctuate significantly from quarter to quarter.  Historically, our revenue in the third quarter of each fiscal year, or quarter ending January 31, has benefited from year-end budget cycles and spending, and we have generated less revenue, and collected less cash, during our first and second fiscal quarters of each year, our quarters ending July 31 and October 31, due in part to the European summer holiday season.  These historical patterns may change over time. Revenue in any quarter depends substantially upon our ability to sign contracts and our ability to recognize revenue in that quarter in accordance with our revenue recognition policies.

 

Our quarterly revenues and operating results may fluctuate based on a variety of factors, including the following:

 

                  the timing of significant orders, and delivery and implementation of our products;

 

                  the gain or loss of any significant customer;

 

                  the number, timing and significance of new product announcements and releases by us or our competitors;

 

                  our ability to acquire or develop (independently or through strategic relationships with third parties), to introduce and to market new and enhanced versions of our products on a timely basis;

 

                  order cancellations and shipment rescheduling delays;

 

                  patterns of capital spending and changes in budgeting cycles by our customers;

 

                  market acceptance of new and enhanced versions of our products;

 

                  changes in the pricing and the mix of products and services that we sell and that our customers demand;

 

                  the demand for our products and the market conditions for technology spending;

 

                  seasonal variations in our sales cycle (such as lower sales levels typically experienced by our European operations during summer months);

 

                  the level of product and price competition;

 

                  the amount and timing of operating costs and capital expenditures relating to the expansion of our business;

 

                  the geographical mix of our sales, together with fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates;

 

                  the timing of any acquisitions and related costs;

 

                  changes in personnel and related costs; and

 

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      legal proceedings in the normal course of business.

 

In addition, we expect that a substantial portion of our revenue will continue to be derived from renewals of maintenance contracts from customers of our software applications.  These maintenance contracts typically expire on an annual basis, and the timing of cash collections of related revenues varies from quarter to quarter.  In addition, our new license revenue and results of operations may fluctuate significantly on a quarterly and annual basis in the future, as a result of a number of factors, many of which are outside of our control.  A sale of a new license generally requires a customer to make a purchase decision that involves a significant commitment of capital.  As a result, the sales cycle associated with the new license revenue will vary substantially and will be subject to a number of factors, including customers’ budgetary constraints, timing of budget cycles and concerns about the pricing or introduction of new products by us or our competitors.

 

If our revenues or operating results fall below the expectations of financial analysts or investors, the trading price of our common shares could fall.  As a result of the foregoing factors and the other factors described in this section, we believe that period-to-period comparisons of our revenue and operating results are not necessarily meaningful.  You should not rely on these comparisons to predict our future performance.

 

We experience customer attrition, which could affect our revenues more adversely than we expect, and we may be unable to adapt quickly to such attrition.  Any significant reduction in revenues as a result of attrition may result in a decrease in the trading price of our common shares.

 

We expect that a substantial portion of our revenue will continue to be derived from renewals of annual maintenance and support contracts with customers of our software applications, and, to a lesser extent, from professional services engagements for these customers.  Attrition in our customer base has historically taken place, and continues to take place, when existing customers elect not to renew their maintenance contracts and cease purchasing professional services from us.  Customer attrition occurs for a variety of reasons, including a customer’s decision to replace our product with that of a competing vendor, to purchase maintenance or consulting services from a third-party service provider, or to forgo maintenance altogether.  It can also occur when a customer is acquired or ceases operations.

 

To date, we have experienced relatively predictable and stable customer attrition.  We have been able to replace portions of revenue lost through attrition with new revenue from maintenance and professional services associated with new license sales and from maintenance and support contract price increases, as well as from acquisitions. However, any factors that adversely affect the ability of our installed systems to compete with those available from others, such as availability of competitors’ products offering more advanced product architecture, superior functionality or performance or lower prices, or factors that reduce demand for our maintenance and professional services, such as intensifying price competition, could lead to increased rates of customer attrition.  Should the rate of customer attrition exceed our expectations, we may be unable to replace the lost revenue or to reduce our costs sufficiently or in a

 

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timely enough fashion to maintain profitability.  In such circumstances, higher-than-expected customer attrition could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, and financial condition.

 

We may be unable to realize our growth strategy if we are unable to identify other suitable acquisition opportunities.

 

We believe, based on feedback from our industry and internal analysis, that our future success depends upon our ability to make additional worthwhile acquisitions to offset the effect of customer attrition, such as our acquisitions of Extensity, Inc. and Comshare.  We cannot be certain that we will be able to identify suitable new acquisition candidates that are available for purchase at reasonable prices.  Even if we are able to identify such candidates, we may be unable to consummate an acquisition on suitable terms.  If we are unable to find and consummate additional worthwhile acquisitions, it is likely that our revenues and stock price will decline due to the adverse impact this would have on our ability to grow our business and offset the effect of customer attrition.  Many recent transactions in the software industry in general, and the BPM segment in particular, have occurred at valuations with multiples exceeding two times revenue.  Consequently, identifying suitable acquisition targets has become increasingly difficult and this has impaired our ability to execute accretive acquisitions, given Geac’s own enterprise value to revenue ratio of approximately 1.3-to-1 as of the end of the second quarter of FY 2005.  When evaluating an acquisition opportunity, we cannot assure you that we will correctly identify the risks and costs inherent in the business that we are acquiring.  In addition, to achieve desired growth rates as we become larger, we are likely to focus more heavily on larger companies for acquisition and continue to target public companies as potential acquisition candidates.  The acquisition of a public company may involve additional risks, including the potential for lack of recourse against public shareholders for undisclosed material liabilities of the acquired business.  If we were to proceed with one or more significant future acquisitions in which the consideration consisted of cash, a substantial portion of our available cash resources could be used.

 

Our inability to successfully integrate other businesses that we acquire may disrupt our operations or otherwise have a negative impact on our business.

 

We made one acquisition in FY 2004 and two acquisitions during FY 2003.  We made numerous acquisitions prior to FY 2002, including eleven during FY 2000.  We are frequently in formal or informal discussions with potential acquisition candidates and may acquire, or make large investments in, other businesses that offer products, services, and technologies that we believe would complement our products and services.  Integration of our completed acquisitions and any future acquisitions involves a number of special risks, including the following: diversion of management’s attention from, and disruption of, our ongoing business; failure to integrate successfully the personnel, information systems, technology, and operations of the acquired business; failure to maximize the potential financial and strategic benefits of the transaction; failure to realize the expected synergies from businesses that we acquire; possible impairment of relationships with employees and customers as a result of any integration of new businesses and management personnel; impairment of assets related to

 

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resulting goodwill; reductions in future operating results from amortization of intangible assets; and unanticipated adverse events, circumstances, or legal liabilities associated with the transaction or the acquired business.

 

Moreover, mergers or acquisitions of technology companies are generally risky and often fail to deliver the return on investment that acquirers expect.  Such failures can result from a number of factors, including the following: rapid changes in technology in the markets in which the combining companies compete, and in demand for their products and services; difficulties in integrating the businesses and personnel of the acquired company; failure to achieve expected revenue or cost synergies; unanticipated costs or liabilities; and other factors.  In addition, future acquisitions are accompanied by the risk that the obligations and liabilities of an acquired company may not be adequately reflected in the historical financial statements of such company and the risk that such historical financial statements may be based on assumptions which are incorrect or inconsistent with our assumptions or approach to accounting policies.  If we are unable to integrate future acquisitions successfully, our business and results of operations could be adversely affected.

 

The loss, cancellation or delay of orders by our customers could harm our business.

 

The purchase of some of our products, particularly our EAS products, and the related professional services may involve a significant commitment of resources and costs for our customers.  As a result, our sales process involves a lengthy evaluation and product qualification process that may require significant capital expenditures.  For these and other reasons, the sales cycle associated with the license of our products, renewal of maintenance agreements, and sale of related professional services varies substantially from contract to contract and from customer to customer.  The sales cycles for our products vary by product and application, and may range up to a year or more for large, complex installations.  We may experience delays over which we have no control and which further extend that period.  During the process, we may devote significant time and resources to a prospective customer, including costs associated with multiple site visits, product demonstrations, and feasibility studies.  If we are unsuccessful in generating offsetting revenues during these sales cycles, our revenues and earnings could be substantially reduced or we could experience a large loss.  Any significant or ongoing failure to ultimately achieve sales as a result of our efforts, or any delays or difficulties in the implementation process for any given customer could have a negative impact on our revenues and results of operations.

 

Demand for our products and services fluctuates rapidly and unpredictably, which makes it difficult for us to manage our business efficiently and may reduce our gross profits, profitability and market share.

 

We depend upon the capital spending budgets of our customers.  World economic conditions have, in the past, adversely affected our licensing and maintenance revenue. The continued weakness in our revenues from sales of new licenses of our enterprise applications systems appears to be consistent with the experience of other participants in our industry.  If economic or other conditions reduce our customers’ capital spending levels, our business, results of operations and financial condition may be adversely

 

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affected.  There has been a severe worldwide downturn in information technology spending over the last few years, and any growth in our markets will depend on a general recovery in information technology spending.  Growth prospects for our existing businesses are uncertain, with expansion in the industry also being highly dependent on users of enterprise applications systems enhancing their current systems through Web-based applications and new functionality that is complementary to that of their existing systems.  Currently, our sales data and observations within the industry indicate that the market for enterprise resource planning software is weak, and it may continue to be weak for the foreseeable future.

 

In addition, the purchase and implementation of our products can constitute a major portion of our customers’ overall corporate services budget, and the amount customers are willing to invest in acquiring and implementing such products has tended to vary in response to economic or financial crises or other business conditions.  Continuation of the current economic circumstances or other difficulty in the economies where we license our products, including North America, the United Kingdom, and other European countries, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial position, operating results, or cash flows.  In particular, our financial position may be significantly adversely affected by a prolonged recession or economic slowdown in any of the economies where we derive a substantial portion of our revenue.

 

We face significant competition from other providers of enterprise application software and systems, which may reduce our market share or limit the prices we can charge for our systems and services.

 

The enterprise resource planning market in which we compete is maturing and is deeply penetrated by large independent software suppliers, such as Microsoft, Oracle Corp., Hyperion, Cognos, Outlooksoft, Cartesis, Lawson Software, PeopleSoft, Inc., SAP AG, SSA Global and Intentia, and many other suppliers selling to small and mid-sized customers.  As a result, competition is intense, and significant pricing pressure exists.  The intensity of this competition increases as demand for products and services, such as those offered by us, weakens.  To maintain and to improve our competitive position, we must continue to develop and to introduce, in a timely and cost-effective manner, new products, product features, and services.  In addition, we expect that a substantial portion of our revenue will continue to be derived from renewals of annual maintenance contracts with customers of our software applications.  Although we have experienced relatively stable and predictable attrition relating to these contracts, increased competition could significantly reduce the need for our maintenance services, as customers could either decide to replace our software applications with a competitor’s applications or to enter into a maintenance contract with a third party to service their software.

 

We anticipate additional competition as other established and emerging companies enter the market for our products and as new products and technologies are introduced. For example, companies that historically have not competed in the enterprise resource planning systems market could introduce new enterprise applications based on newer product architectures that could provide for functionality similar to that of our products that are based on older technology.  In addition, current and potential competitors may

 

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make strategic acquisitions or establish cooperative relationships among themselves or with third parties, thereby increasing the ability of their products to address the needs of our prospective customers.  Accordingly, it is possible that new competitors or alliances among current and new competitors may emerge and rapidly gain significant market share.  This competition could result in price reductions, fewer customer orders, reduced gross margins, and loss of market share.  In addition, variances or slowdowns in our new licensing revenue may negatively impact our current and future revenue from services and maintenance, since such services and maintenance revenues typically depend on new license sales.

 

Our competitors may have advantages over us that may inhibit our ability to compete effectively.

 

Many of our competitors and potential competitors have significantly greater financial, technical, marketing, and other resources, greater name recognition, and a larger installed base of customers than we do.  The products of some of our competitors are based on more advanced product architectures or offer performance advantages compared with our more mature EAS and ISA products.  Our competitors may be able to respond more quickly to new or emerging technologies and changes in customer requirements or may devote greater resources to the development, promotion, and sale of their products than we are able to do.  Many competitive factors affect the market for our products and our ability to earn maintenance, professional services and new license revenue.  Some of these factors are: vendor and product reputation; industry-specific expertise; cost of ownership; ease and speed of implementation; customer support; product architecture, quality, price and performance; product performance attributes, such as flexibility, scalability, compatibility, functionality and ease of use; and vendor financial stability.  Our inability to compete effectively based on any of the foregoing factors could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.  Not all of our existing products compete equally well with respect to each of these factors.  To the extent that we conclude that one or more of our existing products are unable to compete effectively, we may reduce the amount of product development, sales and marketing and other resources that we devote to that product.  This could result in customer dissatisfaction, increased customer attrition rates and a decline in revenues from that product, each of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, and financial condition.

 

Our business may be impacted by the recent consolidation trend in the software industry.

 

Our experience indicates that there is a recent trend in the software industry generally, and the enterprise resource planning segment specifically, towards the consolidation of the participants within the industry and between segments.  This trend may continue and could result in fewer participants in each segment, some of whom may have greater economic resources, broader geographic scope, a broader range of products and better overall positioning than we do.  As a result of this consolidation trend and the fact that there may be fewer participants in the industry or in each segment, competition may increase and pricing pressure on our products may intensify.  Industry participants with a broader range of product offerings may be better able to meet customers’ needs and

 

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win new business.  In addition, as a result of this trend, customers’ buying patterns may be impacted.  The uncertainty in the market created by this trend may cause customers to postpone or delay their buying decisions until the uncertainty regarding this consolidation trend is reduced.  To the extent we are unable to capitalize on this consolidation trend, it could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, and financial condition.

 

If we consummate new acquisitions, resulting growth may place significant demands on our management resources and operational infrastructure.  Any failure to manage this growth effectively may lead to a disruption in our operations and a resulting decline in profitability.

 

In the past, we experienced substantial growth, primarily through acquisitions, which significantly expanded our operations. We made 33 acquisitions between May 1, 1996 and October 31, 2004, and we plan to continue to make acquisitions in the future.  Growth and expansion resulting from future acquisitions may place a significant demand on our management resources.  To manage post-acquisition growth effectively, we must maintain a high level of quality, efficiency and performance and must continue to enhance our operational, financial, and management systems and to retain, integrate, motivate and manage the employees who transition to our operations following an acquisition.  We may not be able to manage such expansion effectively and any failure to do so could lead to a disruption in our business, a loss of customers and revenue, and increased expenses.  Any such decline in profitability could adversely impact the trading price of Geac common shares.

 

Potential divestitures may reduce revenues in the short term and create uncertainty among our employees, customers and potential customers, which could harm our business.

 

We have in the past divested, and may in the future consider divesting, certain portions of our business.  Any divestitures would result in a short-term reduction in revenue and could harm our results of operations if we were not able to reduce expenses accordingly or to generate offsetting sources of revenue.  To the extent that our consideration of these potential divestitures became known prior to their completion, we could face the risk, among others, that customers and potential customers of the business division in question might be reluctant to purchase our products and services during this period.  In addition, we face the risk that we may be unable to retain qualified personnel within that business division during this period.  These risks could prevent us from successfully completing on favorable terms, or at all, divestitures that would otherwise be beneficial to us, and may in the process weaken business divisions that we are considering for divestiture.  Any of these events could result in a loss of customers, revenues, and employees and could harm our results of operations.

 

Our international operations expose us to additional risks, including currency-related risk.

 

We are subject to risks of doing business internationally, including fluctuations in currency exchange rates, increases in duty rates, difficulties in obtaining export licenses, difficulties in the enforcement of intellectual property rights and political

 

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uncertainties.  We derived more than 95 percent of our total revenue from sales outside Canada in each of FY 2004 and FY 2003.  Our most significant international operations are in the United States, the United Kingdom, and France, which are the only countries in which our revenues constituted more than 10 percent of our total worldwide revenues during FY 2004 and FY 2003.  Historically, our Canadian sales and expenses have been denominated in Canadian dollars, and our non-Canadian sales and expenses have been denominated in the currencies of 21 other jurisdictions.  Effective May 1, 2003, we adopted the U.S. dollar as our reporting currency.  To date, we have not used forward, exchange contracts to hedge exposures denominated in non-U.S. currencies or any other derivative financial instrument for trading, hedging, or speculative purposes.

 

Revenues and expenses generated in foreign currencies are translated at exchange rates during the month in which the transaction occurs.  We cannot predict the effect of foreign exchange losses in the future; however, if significant foreign exchange losses are experienced, they could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, and financial condition.  In addition, fluctuations in exchange rates could affect the demand for our products.  Additional risks we face in conducting business internationally include the following: longer payment cycles, difficulties in managing international operations, including constraints associated with local laws regarding employment, difficulty in enforcing our agreements through foreign legal systems, problems in collecting accounts receivable, complex international tax and financial reporting compliance requirements, and the adverse effects of tariffs, duties, price controls or other restrictions that impair trade.

 

Seasonal trends in sales of our software products may result in periodic reductions in our cash flow and impairment of our operating results.

 

Seasonality in our business could result in our revenues or cash flows in a given period being less than market estimates.  Seasonality could also result in quarter-to-quarter decreases in our revenues or cash flows.  Our revenues and operating results in our January quarter have tended to benefit from customer spending related to calendar year-end budget cycles.  Most of our maintenance contract renewals occur on a calendar-year basis.  Accordingly, cash receipts from maintenance contract renewals are usually highest in the January quarter and lowest in the July and October quarters.  These historical patterns may change over time, however, particularly as our operations become larger and the sources of our revenue change and become more diverse.  Our European operations have expanded significantly in recent years and may experience variability in demand associated with seasonal buying patterns in these foreign markets.  For example, our July and October quarters typically experience reduced sales and cash collections activity, in part, due to the European summer holiday season.

 

Impact of geopolitical and other global or local events may have a significant effect on our operations.

 

Various events, including natural disasters, extreme weather conditions, labour disputes, civil unrest, war and political instability, terrorism, and contagious illness outbreaks, or the perceived threat of these events, may cause a disruption of our

 

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normal operations and may disrupt the domestic and international travel of our sales and other personnel.  In addition to the general uncertainty that these events or the perceived threat of these events could have on the demand for our products and services, the ability of our personnel, including maintenance and sales personnel, to travel to visit customers or potential customers may be affected.  The sales cycle for our products includes a period of education for potential customers on the use and benefits of our products and services, as well as the integration of our products and services with additional applications utilized by individual customers.  Any disruption in the ability of our personnel to travel could have a material and adverse impact on our ability to complete this process and to service these customers, which could, in turn, have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.  In addition, these events or the perceived threat of these events may require us to reorganize our day-to-day operations to minimize the associated risks.  Any expense related to the reorganization of our day-to-day operations, even on a short-term basis, could also have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

 

If we cannot attract and retain qualified sales personnel, customer service personnel, and software developers, we may not be able to sell and to support our existing products or to develop new products.

 

We depend on key technical, sales, and senior management personnel.  Many of these individuals would be difficult to replace if they were to leave our employment.  In addition, our success is highly dependent on our continuing ability to identify, to hire, to train, to assimilate, to motivate, and to retain highly qualified personnel, including recently hired officers and other employees.  Competition for qualified employees is particularly intense in the technology industry, and we have in the past experienced difficulty recruiting qualified employees.  Our failure to attract and to retain the necessary qualified personnel could seriously harm our operating results and financial condition.

 

Our future growth depends, in part, upon our ability to develop new products and to improve existing products.  Our ability to develop new products and services and to enhance our existing products and services will depend, in part, on our ability to recruit and to retain top quality software programmers.  If we are unable to hire and to retain sufficient numbers of qualified programming personnel, we may not be able to develop new products and services or to improve our existing products and services in the time frame necessary to execute our business plan.

 

Our executive officers are critical to our business, and these officers may not remain with us in the future.

 

Our future success largely depends on the continued efforts and abilities of our executive officers.  Their skills, experience and industry contacts significantly benefit us.  Although we have employment and non-competition agreements with members of our senior management team we cannot assure you that they or our other key employees will all choose to remain employed by us.  If we lose the services of one or more of our executive officers, or if one or more of them decide to join a competitor or otherwise

 

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compete directly or indirectly with us, our business, operating results, and financial condition could be harmed.  We do not maintain key-man life insurance on any of our employees.

 

The market for our software products is characterized by rapid technological advances, and we must continually improve our technology to remain competitive.

 

Rapid technological change and frequent new product introductions and enhancements characterize the enterprise solutions software industry.  Our current and potential customers increasingly require greater levels of functionality and more sophisticated product offerings.  In addition, the life cycles of our products are difficult to estimate.  Accordingly, we believe that our future success depends upon our ability to enhance current products and to develop and to introduce new products offering enhanced performance and functionality at competitive prices in a timely manner, and on our ability to enable our products to work in conjunction with other products from other suppliers that our customers may utilize.  Our failure to develop and to introduce or to enhance products in a timely manner could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, and financial condition.  We may be unable to respond on a timely basis to the changing needs of our customer base and the new applications we design for our customers may prove to be ineffective.  Our ability to compete successfully will depend in large measure on our ability to be among the first to market with effective new products or services, to maintain a technically competent research and development staff, and to adapt to technological changes and advances in the industry.  Our software products must remain compatible with evolving computer hardware and software platforms and operating environments.  We cannot assure you that we will be successful in these efforts.  In addition, competitive or technological developments and new regulatory requirements may require us to make substantial, unanticipated investments in new products and technologies, and we may not have sufficient resources to make these investments.  If we were required to expend substantial resources to respond to specific technological or product changes, our operating results would be adversely affected.

 

We may be unable to develop and to maintain collaborative development and marketing relationships, which could result in a decline in revenues or slower than anticipated growth rates.

 

As a part of our business strategy, we have formed, and intend to continue to form collaborative relationships with other leading companies to increase new license revenue.  Our success will depend, in part, on our ability to maintain these relationships and to cultivate additional corporate alliances with such companies.  We cannot assure you that our historical collaborative relationships will be commercially successful, that we will be able to negotiate additional collaborative relationships, that such additional collaborative relationships will be available to us on acceptable terms, or that any such relationships, if established, will be commercially successful.  In addition, we cannot assure you that parties with whom we have established, or will establish, collaborative relationships will not, either directly or in collaboration with others, pursue alternative technologies or develop alternative products in addition to, or instead of, our products.

 

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Such parties may also be acquired by our competitors to terminate our relationship or they may experience financial or other difficulties that lessen their value to us and to our customers.  Our financial condition or results of operations may be adversely affected by our failure to establish and maintain collaborative relationships.

 

We may become increasingly dependent on third-party technology incorporated in our products, and, if so, impaired relations with these third parties, errors in their technology, or their inability to enhance the technology over time could harm our business.

 

We incorporate third-party technology into our products.  Currently, the third-party providers include, without limitation: IBM, Impromptu, FRx, Jacada, Brio, Apache Foundation, Microsoft, Lombardi, IBI, Pervasive, BEA Systems, DataMirror, Business Objects and Sun Microsystems.  We may incorporate additional third-party technology into our products as we expand our product lines.  The operation of our products would be impaired if errors occur in the third-party technology that we license.  It is more difficult for us to correct errors in third-party technology because the technology is not within our control.  Accordingly, our business may be adversely affected in the event of errors in this technology.  Furthermore, it may be difficult for us to replace any third-party technology if a vendor seeks to terminate our license to the technology.

 

We may be unable to protect our proprietary technology and that of other companies we may acquire, which could harm our competitive position.

 

We have relied, and expect to continue to rely, on a combination of copyright, trademark and trade-secret laws, confidentiality procedures, and contractual provisions to establish, to maintain, and to protect our proprietary rights.  Despite our efforts to protect our proprietary rights in our intellectual property and that of other companies we may acquire, unauthorized parties may attempt to copy aspects of our products or to obtain information we regard as proprietary.  Policing unauthorized use of our technology, if required, may be difficult, time consuming, and costly.  Our means of protecting our technology may be inadequate.

 

Third parties may apply for patent protection for processes that are the same as, or similar to, our processes, or for products that use the same or similar processes as our products.  Despite our efforts to protect our proprietary rights, unauthorized parties may attempt to copy aspects of our products or services or to obtain and to use information that we regard as proprietary.  Third parties may also independently develop similar or superior technology without violating our proprietary rights.  In addition, the laws of some foreign countries do not protect proprietary rights to the same extent as do the laws of Canada and the United States.

 

Trademark protection is an important factor in establishing product recognition. Our inability to protect our trademarks from infringement could result in injury to any goodwill, which may be developed in our trademarks.  Moreover, we may be unable to use one or more of our trademarks because of successful third-party claims.

 

Claims of infringement are becoming increasingly common as the software industry develops and legal protections, including patents, are applied to software products.

 

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Although we believe that our products and technology do not infringe proprietary rights of others, litigation may be necessary to protect our proprietary technology, and third parties may assert infringement claims against us with respect to their proprietary rights.  Any claims or litigation can be time consuming and expensive regardless of their merit.  Infringement claims against us could cause product release delays, require us to redesign our products or to enter into royalty or license agreements that may not be available on terms acceptable to us, or at all.

 

Product development delays could harm our competitive position and reduce our revenues.

 

If we experience significant delays in releasing new or enhanced products, our position in the market could be harmed and our revenue could be substantially reduced, which would adversely affect our operating results.  We have experienced product development delays in the past and may experience delays in the future.  In particular, we may experience product development delays associated with the integration of recently acquired products and technologies.  Delays may occur for many reasons, including an inability to hire a sufficient number of developers, discovery of bugs and errors, or the inability of our current or future products to conform to customer and industry requirements.

 

If our customers demand performance guarantees, the costs and risks associated with offering our products and services will increase.

 

We and our competitors are being requested, with increasing frequency, to provide specific performance guarantees with respect to the functionality of certain aspects of our software.  Similarly, we have been requested to quote fixed-price bids for professional services.  These requests present risks, because no two implementations of our software are identical, and therefore we cannot accurately predict precisely what will be required to meet these performance standards.  If this trend continues, our profitability may be affected if we are required to spend more to meet our commitments.

 

Our software products may contain errors or defects that could result in lost revenue, delayed or limited market acceptance, or product liability claims with substantial litigation costs.

 

As a result of their complexity, software products may contain undetected errors or failures when entering the market.  Despite testing performed by us and testing and use by current and potential customers, defects and errors may be found in new products after commencement of commercial shipments or the offering of a network service using these products.  In these circumstances, we may be unable to successfully correct the errors in a timely manner or at all.  The occurrence of errors and failures in our products could result in negative publicity and a loss of, or delay in, market acceptance of those products.  Such publicity could reduce revenue from new licenses and lead to increased customer attrition.  Alleviating these errors and failures could require significant expenditure of capital and other resources by us.  The consequences of these errors and failures could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, and financial condition.

 

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Because many of our customers use our products for business-critical applications, any errors, defects, or other performance problems could result in financial or other damage to our customers.  Our customers or other third parties could seek to recover damages from us in the event of actual or alleged failures of our products or the provision of services.  We have in the past been, and may in the future continue to be, subject to these kinds of claims.  Although our license agreements with customers typically contain provisions designed to limit our exposure to potential claims, as well as any liabilities arising from these claims, the provisions may not effectively protect against these claims and the liability and associated costs.  Accordingly, any such claim could have a material adverse effect upon our business, results of operations, and financial condition.  In addition, defending this kind of claim, regardless of its merits, or otherwise satisfying affected customers, could entail substantial expense and require the devotion of significant time and attention by key management personnel.

 

The hosting services of our AppCare service, Extensity products, and Interealty division are dependent on the uninterrupted operation of our data centers.  Any unexpected interruption in the operation of our data centers could result in customer dissatisfaction and a loss of revenues.

 

The hosting services offered by our AppCare remote application management service, Extensity products, Anael, Local Government and Interealty business depend upon the uninterrupted operation of our data centers and our ability to protect computer equipment and information stored in our data centers against damage that may be caused by natural disaster, fire, power loss, telecommunications or internet failure, unauthorized intrusion, computer viruses and other similar damaging events.  If any of our data centers were to become inoperable for an extended period we might be unable to provide our customers with contracted services.  Although we take what we believe to be reasonable precautions against such occurrences, we can give no assurance that damaging events such as these will not result in a prolonged interruption of our services, which could result in customer dissatisfaction, loss of revenue and damage to our business.

 

In addition, if customers determine that our hosted product is not scalable, does not provide adequate security for the dissemination of information over the Internet, or is otherwise inadequate for Internet-based use, or, if for any other reason, customers fail to accept our hosted products for use on the Internet or on a subscription basis, our business will be harmed.  As a provider of hosted services, we expect to receive confidential information, including credit card, travel booking, employee, purchasing, supplier, and other financial and accounting data, through the Internet.  There can be no assurance that this information will not be subject to computer break-ins, theft, and other improper activity that could jeopardize the security of information for which we are responsible.  Any such lapse in security could expose us to litigation, loss of customers, or otherwise harm our business.  In addition, any person who is able to circumvent our security measures could misappropriate proprietary or confidential customer information or cause interruptions in our operations.  We may be required to incur significant costs to protect against security breaches or to alleviate problems caused by breaches.  Further, a well-publicized compromise of security could deter people from using the Internet to conduct transactions that involve transmitting confidential information.  Our

 

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failure to prevent security breaches, or well-publicized security breaches affecting the Internet in general could significantly harm our business, operating results and financial condition.

 

As Internet commerce evolves, we expect that federal, provincial, state or foreign agencies will adopt new regulations covering issues, such as user privacy, pricing, taxation of goods and services provided over the Internet, and content and quality of products and services.  It is possible that new legislation could expose companies involved in electronic commerce to liability, which could limit the growth of electronic commerce generally and reduce demand for our products and services.

 

Our shareholder protection rights plan may discourage take-over attempts.

 

We have adopted a shareholder protection rights plan pursuant to which one right for each Geac common share has been issued.  The rights represent the right to purchase, subject to the terms and conditions of the rights plan, Geac common shares that would have the effect of diluting the interests of potential acquirers.  The rights plan may have an anti-take-over effect and discourage take-over attempts not first approved by our board of directors or made in accordance with the terms of the plan.

 

Extensity, which operates as a division of one of our subsidiaries, is the target of a securities class action complaint, which may result in substantial costs and divert management attention and resources.

 

Extensity, Inc., a subsidiary that we acquired in March 2003, which now operates as a division of one of our subsidiaries, is subject to a class action suit which alleges that Extensity, certain of its former officers and directors, and the underwriters of its initial public offering in January 2000 violated U.S. securities laws by not adequately disclosing the compensation paid to such underwriters.  The class action suit has been consolidated with a number of similar class action suits brought against other issuers and underwriters involved in initial public offerings.  The plaintiffs seek an unspecified amount of damages.  The plaintiffs and issuer parties have entered into a settlement agreement to settle all claims, which would be funded by the issuers’ insurers.  The settlement is subject to approval by the Court.  This action may divert the efforts and attention of our management and, if determined adversely, could have a material impact on our business, financial position, results of operations and cash flows.

 

We may be required to delay the recognition of revenue until future periods, which could adversely impact our operating results.

 

We may have to defer revenue recognition due to several factors, including whether:

 

      we are required to accept extended payment terms;

 

      the transaction involves contingent payment terms or fees;

 

                  the transaction involves acceptance criteria or there are identified product-related issues; or

 

28



 

                  license agreements include products that are under development or other undelivered elements.

 

Because of the factors listed above and other specific requirements for software revenue recognition, we must have very precise terms in our license agreements to recognize revenue when we initially deliver our products or perform services.  Negotiation of mutually acceptable terms and conditions can extend the sales cycle, and sometimes we do not obtain terms and conditions that permit revenue recognition at the time of delivery or even as work on the project is completed.

 

We may have exposure to additional tax liabilities.

 

As a multinational corporation, we are subject to income taxes as well as non-income based taxes, in Canada, the United States and various foreign jurisdictions and our tax structure is subject to review by numerous taxation authorities.  Significant judgment is required in determining our worldwide provision for income taxes and other tax liabilities.  In the ordinary course of a global business, there are many intercompany transactions and calculations where the ultimate tax determination is uncertain.  Although we strive to ensure that our tax estimates are reasonable, we cannot assure you that the final determination of any tax audits and litigation will not be different from what is reflected in our historical income tax provisions and accruals, and any such differences may materially affect our operating results for the affected period or periods.

 

We also have exposure to additional non-income tax liabilities.  We are subject to non-income taxes, such as payroll, sales, use, value-added, net worth, property and goods and services taxes, in Canada, the United States and various foreign jurisdictions.  We are regularly under audit by tax authorities with respect to these non-income taxes.

 

Terrorist attacks or hostilities could harm our business.

 

Actual or threatened terrorist attacks or military actions, and events occurring in response to those developments, may reduce the amount, or delay the timing of, capital expenditures by corporations for information technology. Accordingly, we cannot be assured that we will be able to increase or maintain our revenue.  In addition, any increase in terrorist activity or escalation of military action may disrupt our operations or the operations of our customers, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition or operating results.

 

Legislative actions, higher insurance costs and potential new accounting pronouncements may affect our future financial position and results of operations.

 

To comply with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, as well as recent changes to stock exchange standards, we may be required to hire additional personnel, make additional investment in our infrastructure and we are utilizing more outside legal, accounting and advisory services than in the past, all of which will cause our general and administrative costs to increase.  Insurers may increase premiums as a result of high claims rates experienced by them over the past year, and so our future premiums for our various

 

29



 

insurance policies, including our directors’ and officers’ insurance policies, could be subject to increase.  Proposed changes in the accounting rules could materially increase the expenses that we report under generally accepted accounting principles and adversely affect our operating results.

 

Critical Accounting Estimates

 

Certain accounting estimates are particularly important to the reporting of our financial position and results of operations, and require the application of significant judgment by our management.  An accounting policy is deemed to be critical if it requires an accounting estimate to be made based on assumptions about matters that are highly uncertain at the time the estimate is made, and if different estimates that reasonably could have been used, or changes in the accounting estimates that are reasonably likely to occur periodically, could materially impact the financial statements.  After consultation with our internal and external financial advisors, we believe that there have been no significant changes in our critical accounting estimates since April 30, 2004 to what was previously disclosed in the Annual MD&A.

 

Changes in Accounting Policies

 

There have been no significant changes in our accounting policies since April 30, 2004

 

30


EX-99.3 4 a04-14524_1ex99d3.htm EX-99.3

Exhibit 99.3

 

Certification of Interim Filings during Transition Period

 

I, Donna de Winter, certify that:

 

1.                                       I have reviewed the interim filings (as this term is defined in Multilateral Instrument 52-109 Certification of Disclosure in Issuers’ Annual and Interim Filings) of Geac Computer Corporation Limited (the issuer) for the interim period ending October 31, 2004;

 

2.                                       Based on my knowledge, the interim filings do not contain any untrue statement of a material face or omit to state a material fact required to be stated or that is necessary to make a statement not misleading in light of the circumstances under which it was made, with respect to the period covered by the interim filings; and

 

3.                                     Based on my knowledge, the interim financial statements together with the other financial information included in the interim filings fairly present in all material respects the financial condition, results of operations and cash flows of the issuer, as of the date and for the periods presented in the interim filings.

 

 

Date:

December 7, 2004

 

 

Signature:

/s/ Donna de Winter

 

 

 

Name/Title:

Donna de Winter, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

 


EX-99.4 5 a04-14524_1ex99d4.htm EX-99.4

Exhibit 99.4

 

Certification of Interim Filings during Transition Period

 

I, Charles S. Jones, certify that:

 

1.                                       I have reviewed the interim filings (as this term is defined in Multilateral Instrument 52-109 Certification of Disclosure in Issuers’ Annual and Interim Filings) of Geac Computer Corporation Limited (the issuer) for the interim period ending October 31, 2004;

 

2.                                       Based on my knowledge, the interim filings do not contain any untrue statement of a material face or omit to state a material fact required to be stated or that is necessary to make a statement not misleading in light of the circumstances under which it was made, with respect to the period covered by the interim filings; and

 

3.                                     Based on my knowledge, the interim financial statements together with the other financial information included in the interim filings fairly present in all material respects the financial condition, results of operations and cash flows of the issuer, as of the date and for the periods presented in the interim filings.

 

 

Date:

December 7, 2004

 

 

Signature:

/s/ Charles S. Jones

 

 

 

Name/Title:

Charles S. Jones, President and Chief Executive Officer

 


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