Corel Corp., an Ottawa-based software maker, recently announced it will cut its global workforce by nine per cent following losses reported by its owner, U.S. venture capital firm Vector Capital Corp.
Corel, which was taken over by Vector earlier this month, will trim approximately 60 positions, reducing payroll costs by an estimated US$4.2 million per year, despite the company’s minor increase in second quarter sales. Q2 revenue, ending May 31, was reported at $32.2 million, up from $30.8 million in Q2 2002.
According to Derek Burney, president and CEO of Corel, the staffing adjustments will be made in order to keep the company’s costs in line with expected revenues.
The most significant gains came from Corel’s XML solutions division, which grew by 46.6 percent to $456,000 along with its office productivity offerings, which increased by 33 percent to $15 million. Corel’s process management solutions, however, took a hit decreasing by 11.2 percent from $2.5 million in Q2 2002 to $2.2 million Q2 2003.
In addition, the company’s European, Middle East and African markets saw a 23.2 percent revenue drop, while Corel North American revenue saw a steady growth of 25.7 percent in Q2.