MAI Systems Announces Record Loss, More Layoffs

Unable to recover from a wrenching restructuring and a fundamental weakness in the minicomputer market, MAI Systems Corp. said Friday that it has laid off an unspecified number of additional employees and reported a record loss for the fiscal year ended Sept. 30, 1991.

The $75.7-million loss, or $2.41 a share, contrasted with a loss of $68.8 million, or $1.98 a share, a year earlier. Revenue fell 13.6% to $336.3 million, contrasted with $389.5 million a year earlier. The loss included $24.2 million in restructuring charges, largely severance pay for dismissed employees and the costs of shutting facilities.

During the past year, the company laid off more than 1,000 of its employees in the United States, Canada and France, said Michael Veuve, chief financial officer. Most of the layoffs occurred in the first half of 1991, but Veuve said small layoffs continued through the year.

The company, which once manufactured its own computers, has been transforming itself into a company that sells its own software with computers made by other manufacturers. The transition has been exacerbated by the recession and the slump in the market for minicomputers.

For the fourth quarter, MAI lost $26.3 million, or 84 cents a share, contrasted with a loss of $68.8 million, or $2.11 a share, a year earlier. Sales for the quarter fell 24% to $80 million. The loss included an $8.2-million restructuring charge.

MAI received a waiver from its banks last fall from payments on its $82.6 million in current debt. Under the agreement, MAI must come up with a $6-million payment by Feb. 28 and the balance of the money by March 10, Veuve said.