Acxiom(R) Corporation (ACXM ) announced that John A. Meyer notified the company of his resignation from his positions as the Chief Executive Officer and President of the company, and as a member of its Board of Directors, effective March 28, 2011.
Michael J. Durham, Acxiom’s chairman, said, "We’ve accomplished a great deal under John’s leadership, and we are very grateful for his contributions to Acxiom during a critical time in the company’s history. Through his efforts the company has stabilized its profitability and significantly improved its balance sheet, without compromising Acxiom’s commitment to customer excellence. However, with the expanded importance of digital media, we are entering a new phase in Acxiom’s evolution. The Board intends to find a new CEO who is an exceptional executive and also is an industry thought leader who will move aggressively to accelerate Acxiom’s growth."
The Board of Directors has appointed Jerry D. Gramaglia, a member of the Board, to serve as interim Chief Executive Officer while the Board conducts a search for a permanent replacement. He will continue as a member of the Board of Directors, but will relinquish his Compensation and Governance / Nominating Committee memberships during his tenure as interim CEO.
Mr. Gramaglia has been a director of Acxiom since 2009. He was the President and Chief Operating Officer for E*TRADE Group Inc., and then served as partner at Arrowpath Venture Partners, a Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm. Mr. Gramaglia began his career at Procter and Gamble and later held senior marketing and general management positions for Nestle, PepsiCo, Imasco and Sprint. He is currently a private investor/advisor.
Mr. Durham continued, "We are fortunate to have a person of Jerry Gramaglia’s caliber to serve as our interim CEO. Jerry has been an important contributor to our Board, and his leadership and operational skills, coupled with his deep marketing experience, make him well suited to guide Acxiom as we search for a permanent CEO."
The Governance / Nominating Committee of the Board of Directors will oversee the process for the identification and selection of a new Chief Executive Officer. Candidates from both inside and outside the company will be considered.
In addition, the company announced that Christopher W. Wolf has informed the company of his intention to resign for personal reasons from his position as Chief Financial Officer of the company in the second calendar quarter of 2011. In particular, Mr. Wolf indicated his desire to stop commuting to Little Rock from his home in Florida and to spend more time with his family. He has agreed to remain with the company for an undetermined period of time in order to assist in the transition of the company’s financial reporting function. Candidates for a replacement Chief Financial Officer from both inside and outside the company will be considered.
The company also announced that it expects to record a non-cash impairment charge in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2011 in connection with a write-down of the carrying value of goodwill and other long-lived assets associated with its international operations. As a result of recent performance of the international operations and management’s evaluation of those businesses, indicators arose during the fourth quarter requiring the company to accelerate the process to review goodwill and other long-lived assets. The goodwill associated with the international components, as of December 31, 2010, was approximately $130 million. Due to the complexity of the calculation process, and the need for appraisals and analyses that have not yet been obtained and performed, the company is currently unable to estimate with precision the amount of the impairment charges. However, the company currently estimates that these amounts will be between $50 million and $90 million.
The company expects to include the actual amount of the impairment charge when it announces its fourth quarter and fiscal year 2011 financial results. The actual amount of the impairment charge will affect the reported amounts of operating income, net income and diluted earnings per share, but will not affect cash balances or cash provided by operating activities.
Based on currently available information, the company announced the following estimates for the fourth quarter and fiscal year ending March 31, 2011:
-- Revenue is estimated to be in the range of $295 million to $299 million for the fourth quarter and $1.156 billion to $1.160 billion for fiscal year 2011.
-- Earnings per diluted share attributable to Acxiom stockholders, excluding unusual items, are estimated to be in the range of $0.18 to $0.22 for the fourth quarter and $0.65 to $0.69 for fiscal year 2011.
-- Earnings (loss) per diluted share attributable to Acxiom stockholders presented in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles are estimated to be in the range of ($1.03) to ($0.49) for the fourth quarter and( $0.49) to $0.05 for fiscal year 2011.
In addition to the estimate of the goodwill impairment charge, unusual items in the fourth quarter will include other restructuring and impairment charges in both the U.S. and international operations. A reconciliation of these estimates to the company’s estimates of earnings per diluted share attributable to Acxiom stockholders presented in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles is attached to this press release.
Acxiom is a recognized leader in marketing services and technology that enable marketers to successfully manage audiences, personalize consumer experiences and create profitable customer relationships. Our superior industry-focused, consultative approach combines consumer data and analytics, databases, data integration and consulting solutions for personalized, multichannel marketing strategies. Acxiom leverages over 40 years of experience in data management to deliver high-performance, highly secure, reliable information management services. Founded in 1969, Acxiom is headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas, USA, and serves clients around the world from locations in the United States, Europe, Asia-Pacific, the Middle East and South America. For more information about Acxiom, visit Acxiom.com.
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