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DragonWave slashes 48 jobs in Ottawa, Israel

DragonWave's Peter Allen. (Photo by Mark Holleron)

DragonWave's Peter Allen. (Photo by Mark Holleron)

Elizabeth Howell
Published on September 10, 2012
Published on September 10, 2012
Elizabeth Howell  RSS Feed

More employees in DragonWave Inc. (TSX:DWI)'s Ottawa office are receiving pink slips in the wake of overall cost-cutting by the mobile backhaul provider.

Topics :
DragonWave , Ottawa , Israel , U.S.

Dragonwave will eliminate 48 jobs, principally in the Ottawa and Israel offices; individual office cutbacks were not disclosed on Thursday in a press release.

While the company expects to save US$6 million annually from the move, it forecasts a $1 million hit in restructuring charges, as well as $1.6 million in cash usage, that will both impact the third-quarter results.

In a statement, CEO Peter Allen said the job eliminations are coming because of a shift in focus after the company acquired Nokia Siemens Networks' microwave transport business and integrated it into DragonWave on June 1.

He said more changes could come as the company uses the acquired properties and employees.

"We are utilizing this experience to rationalize our operations, with a focus on reducing recurring costs," Mr. Allen stated.

"Transition and integration activities ... are ongoing and we continue to evaluate the appropriate scale for the combined business. We will closely monitor the need to adjust our cost profile as these activities progress and as we gain greater visibility into revenue opportunities."

When the Nokia acquisition was first announced in November 2011, officials said DragonWave would more than double its headcount to 630. At the same time, the firm warned it would eliminate some jobs through harmonizations.

At the time, Mr. Allen called the acquisition "both unique and truly transformational for DragonWave" since it would diversify the business.

DragonWave's revenues traditionally came mainly from one chief customer, Clearwire, and were hammered after Clearwire slowed a network build in 2010. DragonWave has been struggling to recover since then.

Even after the Nokia business acquisition was announced, DragonWave had to push the timing back a quarter and amend the terms due to poor economic conditions in Europe.

On June 4, just days after the takeover took effect, DragonWave eliminated 68 positions across its Ottawa and Israel offices, while upping its presence in regional offices. The changes were supposed to reduce costs and reflect Nokia's global business, Mr. Allen stated at the time.

While the company is cutting back on employees, DragonWave has maintained its revenue forecast for the second quarter thus far. In July it forecast $35 million to $45 million in revenues, but updated that figure Monday to say revenues would likely be north of $40 million.

The mobile backhaul provider posted a loss of $12.6 million or $0.35 per share in first-quarter results released in July. This was a 21-per-cent deepening from a $9.9 million loss in the first quarter of fiscal 2012.

Revenues improved to $13 million, up from $11 million the year before. The results included an $800,000 restructuring charge and a $2.9-million impairment of intangible assets charge.

Comments

  • Username
    G. Steigenberger
    - September 14, 2012 at 19:49:44

    Honestly, is this a surprise to anyone? After seven consecutive quarterly losses, does this company even stand a chance? It is hard to say goodbye to another Canadian hi-tech darling, but it appears as if DragonWave's best days are behind them. A poorly executed acquisition, a program management team two steps behind the competition, and a sales team that cannot capitalize on a banner year in 2009, it is a downright shame that this company could not pull things together. How else could they fall so far from from $171 M per year in 2009? I hate to say it, but they becoming a One Hit Wonder much like The Rembrandts, Billy Ray Cyrus and Tommy Tutone. What happened here? As a proud Canadian who was once 100% behind this company, it makes me angry to see good Canadian companies choke. DWI had everything going for it in 2009, but you can pretty much stick a fork in it now. The first round of layoffs were in June, now it is September. Unfortunately, it looks as if there will be some very unhappy folks again three months from now, come December. I don't know how DWI will pull out of this as it is too big of a ship now to turn on a dime and institute the change it needs.

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  • Jo Pow
    Jo Pow
    - September 10, 2012 at 18:27:18

    What is missing in this report is that Clearwire is steadily buying on a regular basis DragonWave products in order to continue on with its current operational needs as well as in converting various USA cities and locations into 4G LTE coverage from 4G WiMax coverage. This is all being coordinated with Clearwire's co-owner Sprint who is rolling out a full 4G LTE network too. Also, it should be known that Sprint has been buying substantial amounts of DragonWave products for its own 4G LTE networks. Besides the above, according to public records supplied by the USA FCC, DragonWave units are growing more popular and increasing in usage with many internet service providers, some telcos, and enterprises, both private and public. This has been with both existing and brand new customers. Also, in Canada, DragonWave has been increasing its sales to various Canadian customers, both existing and new. It should be further noted that DragonWave is the preferred supplier of products to NSN customers around the world, as well as Samsung customers around the world. With respect to the staff reductions, that was already expected based on the company previously stating they would staff appropriately once they could integrate and understand the world wide flow of business. What is most important in today's news is that the company is confirming solid guidance that beats some concerns that revenues were going to be low end of the range. Overall, the company has very strong sales in progress into Japan and Korea, with bright outlooks for Asia and Latin America in the next couple of quarters. The bottom line is that today's news story is not really revealing the definite positives and good outlooks for the company. The stock price has been exessively oversold with great prospects for a substantial rally from current oversold levels as the good news keeps rolling in and released to the public.

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