MDIS sheds jobs to make 'fresh start'

MDIS is to change its name and shed up to 200 jobs as part of a radical restructuring aimed at turning around the fortunes of the troubled software and services group.

MDIS is to change its name and shed up to 200 jobs as part of a radical restructuring aimed at turning around the fortunes of the troubled software and services group.

The VAR will become Northgate Information Systems on 1 May in a bid to give the company a "fresh start", a company representative said.

MDIS will also change its accounting reference date to 30 April to better match the company's trading patterns. It has also proposed a one-for-five rights issue to raise £19.2m to pay non-trade creditors and to fund its restructuring and growth.

The announcements followed MDIS's loss of £21.9m for the year ended 31 December. Turnover was £130.8m.

The loss is the latest in a string of poor results which has led MDIS to dispose of its majority stake in the ProIV development tool, sell off its Glovia enterprise resource planning business to Fujitsu for £4m and lose both chief executive John Klein and chairman Ian Hay Davison. Chris Stone, a former associate partner at Andersen Consulting, has replaced Klein.

But MDIS said there was some light at the end of the tunnel as revenues in the UK operations were up on 1998 until November and December, when the group experienced a slowdown in sales because of year 2000 concerns.

It said trading in the UK in January and February was also ahead of 1999 but it is still expected to trade at a loss until May because the January to April period is traditionally quiet and because of the high level of fixed overheads.

MDIS said it will concentrate on delivering front-office solutions such as customer relationship management.

Nicholas Irens, MDIS's current chairman, said: "The rights issue and the disposal (of Glovia) are essential steps towards restoring the company to a secure financial position from which it can fully exploit its potential."