Author: Melanie Hollands
Remember GEAC Computer, from way back when? In the 1990s, GEAC had a bright outlook, and the company’s stock was fairly loved in the past by Canadian investors. But in the latter 1990s, control of GEAC shifted to one or two large strategic investors; the company went on a buying spree — buying up numerous
| Melanie Hollands |
software companies — and became somewhat of an unfocused mess.
Lately, much of GEAC’s more recent earnings growth appears to have come from cost cutting; nobody’s sure where any real growth in the future will emanate. Cost cutting tightens a company and improves operating leverage; but it will only take a floundering company so far. GEAC’s product niche sounds reasonable: It’s sort of an operations and/or finance approach to what Seibel does with sales/customer service. There are multiple levels of product, so GEAC can go back and re-sell to existing customers, which could be a positive if management plays it right.
