SeaChange ‘terminates’ CEO after reporting US$22.1m Q4 loss

Jay Samit

SeaChange has announced the “termination of the employment” of its CEO Jay Samit, at the same time as it reported a US$22.1 million (€19.4 million) operating loss for its fiscal fourth quarter. 

The TV technology company made a simultaneous announcement accompanying its fiscal Q4 and full year 2016 results saying that chief operating officer Edward Terino would takeover the CEO role with immediate effect.

In a statement, Terino said that SeaChange intends to “further increase operational efficiencies” in 2017, claiming it was “disappointed” in its fiscal 2016 performance.

In Q4 the company reported revenue of US$27.2 million and a loss from operations of US$22.1 million – compared to revenue of US$31.3 million and a loss of US$5.3 million a year earlier.

The company said that its Q4 results included charges of US$22.3 million, which it attributed partly to the loss from impairment of the assets of Timeline Labs – the real-time social media analysis firm that SeaChange bought at the end of 2014.

It also said that charges came from severance and other restructuring costs, stock-based compensation, amortisation of intangible assets from prior acquisitions, and other non-operating professional fees.

For full year 2016, SeaChange made an operating loss of $48.2 million, from revenues of US$107.0 million

“As previously disclosed, we have implemented cost-saving actions with respect to restructuring our Timeline operations and the termination of our prior CEO, Jay Samit, which will enable us to achieve annualised cost savings of approximately US$7 million,” said SeaChange chief financial officer Anthony Dias.

Terino, who became SeaChange’s COO in June 2015, said that this year the company aims to deliver “new software product innovations that capitalise on our core competencies in video delivery, content management and monetisation.”

SeaChange will focus on using its R&D investments to become “more efficient” with spending, will introduce new cloud-based software products, and will invest in sales and marketing, he said.

“We believe that these actions will enable SeaChange to return to revenue growth and profitability on a full year basis in fiscal 2017.”

Overall, Dias said that SeaChange’s Q1 “tends to be down cyclically” and said the company expects its Q1 fiscal 2017 revenue to be in the range of US$20 million to US$22 million and its non-GAAP operating loss to be in the range of US$0.18 to US$0.24 per basic share.

“For full fiscal 2017, we anticipate revenues to be in the range of $110 million to $120 million and non-GAAP operating income to be in the range of $0.05 to $0.15 per fully diluted share,” said Dias.

Samit leaves SeaChange after less than two years in the CEO role, having joined the firm in October 2014.