4th Feb 2020 09:38
(Alliance News) - Micro Focus International PLC on Tuesday reported the departure of its long-time board chair, Kevin Loosemore, as it said that overall performance for financial 2019 fell short of expectations due to a challenging environment.
Shares in Micro Focus were down 13% at 857.30 pence each in London.
The enterprise software company said that Loosemore will be standing down as chair on February 14, after 15 years in the role. Greg Lock, former chair of Computacenter PLC, Kofax PLC and SurfControl PLC, has been appointed the company's new chair, effective from the same date.
Lock, who has more than 45 years of experience in the software and computer services industry, also has been a director of director of Informa PLC and UBM PLC, now part of Informa, in the past five years.
For the 12 months ended October 31, 2019, the FTSE 250-listed company reported revenue of USD3.35 billion, down 29% from USD4.75 billion in the 18 months to October 31, 2018. Company-compiled consensus saw revenue at around USD3.37 billion.
The company changed its accounting year in financial 2018 following its USD8.80 billion reverse takeover of the Hewlett Packard Enterprise Software business.
Net profit for the 12-month period jumped by 87% to USD1.47 billion from USD784.1 million in the 18 months a year ago, mainly due to a gain from the USD2.5 billion disposal of the SUSE business. The pretax loss amounted to USD34.1 million, versus an 18-month USD78.5 million loss.
Annual adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation amounted to USD1.36 billion for the 12 months. Consensus saw adjusted Ebitda to be around USD1.37 billion.
Stephen Murdoch, chief executive of Micro Focus, said: "This has been a challenging year for Micro Focus and our overall financial performance fell short of expectations. As a result, we conducted a Strategic & Operational Review, which has identified the additional actions and changes required to deliver on the significant potential within the business. Successful execution of these actions, will position Micro Focus to deliver against our goal of consistent and sustained value creation for customers, shareholders and employees."
The Berkshire, England-based company declared a final dividend per share of 58.33 cents per share, taking its total payout for the 12 months to 116.66 cents compared to 151.26 cents for the 18 month period.
For financial 2020, Micro Focus predicts revenue to be 6% to 8% lower year-on-year on constant currency basis. It expects first half revenue of financial 2020 to be broadly consistent with the trajectory achieved in the second half of financial 2019.
The company also expects increased investments to hit adjusted Ebitda margins in financial 2020 and 2021. Net debt is expected to broadly reduce in financial 2020 versus USD4.34 billion at October 31, 2019.
By Tapan Panchal; [email protected]
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