Quarterdeck posts improved quarterly results.

Software maker reorganizes, names new CEO 

Quarterdeck Office Systems Inc., the reorganized Santa Monica-based software company, reported dramatically improved financial results for the three months ended Dec. 31.

Just prior to releasing the fiscal first-quarter 1995 results, the company's board also announced the appointment of a new president and chief executive officer, 48-year-old Gaston Bastiaens.

Earlier this month Quarterdeck reported a 16.6 percent increase in revenues from the same 1993 period, to $10.7 million. Net income was $849,000, or 4 cents a share, compared to a loss of $646,000, or 3 cents a share, in the comparable 1993 period.

The positive financial results and the appointment of Bastiaens has sent Quarterdeck's stock soaring. Last week, its shares on the NASDAQ were trading in the $3.75 to $4 range compared to slightly more than $3 in early January and a little more than $2 a share in early December. The 52-week low for the stock is $1.92 a share and the high is $4.12.

Quarterdeck develops software programs for businesses in three primary areas: memory management, remote computing and its newest area - products for the Internet. It is estimated that between 40 million and 50 million people have access to the Internet, an online computer communications service.

Financial analysts who follow Quarterdeck said the appointment of Bastiaens and strong results for the company's first quarter are good signs, at least in the short term.

Upbeat view

They said Bastiaens has the experience to help Quarterdeck right away and the financial results represent the early success of the company's new QEMM 7.5 business software.

"Right now it looks good for the company but I think there are some long-term concerns and questions about how well it's going to do with its Internet products," said analyst Chris Galvin of Hambrecht & Quist in San Francisco.

Bastiaens did not return a phone call for comment but in a statement released with the financial results, he said he was "encouraged by the progress Quarterdeck has demonstrated in its fiscal restructuring." He continued, "The company is focused on exploiting the opportunities ahead in three exciting and complementary businesses."

According to a company-issued biography, Bastiaens has more than 20 years' experience in consumer electronics, software and multimedia. Most recently, he was president of a software company he founded called ParaGraph Communications. He previously was general manager of the interactive electronics division of Apple Computer.

Bastiaens succeeded King Lee, whom the Quarterdeck board had hired in August as an interim chief executive. Lee continues to be a member of the company's board.

Co-founder departs

Lee was brought in after founder, President and Chief Executive Officer Therese Myers left the company. The exact circumstances of her departure are unknown. "I think the best way to say it is that it was a mutual parting," said one analyst.

Myers had co-founded Quarterdeck in 1982 with Gary Pope, the company's chief operating officer, who also left the company last year.

Three months after Myers left, the company, once a hot property on Wall Street, reported a loss of $21.2 million for the 12-month period ended Sept. 30, 1994. Revenues dropped to $26.8 million from $44.9 million a year before.

In fiscal year 1992, Quarterdeck's revenues had topped out at $55 million.

At about the time Myers left, the company began a restructuring that cut employment from 300 to 200 workers.

In addition, it closed sales offices in Spain, Cyprus, Canada, New York and London. A sales office in Santa Monica was also closed.

Analysts said the reason for Quarterdeck's problems were poor management and competition from other software makers that sold similar products at reduced prices.

One Los Angeles analyst who covers the company but who did not want to be identified, said Bastiaens brings strong international marketing skills to Quarterdeck. In addition, the analyst said, Bastiaens knows how to introduce new titles, which will be important when Quarterdeck rolls out its new line of products for the Internet.