NeoMedia Technologies, Inc (NEOM)

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From today's Fort Myers News-Press:

http://www.news-press.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070722/BUSINESS/707220415/1075

Stock surge bypasses SW Florida
By Tim Engstrom
[e-mail]
Originally posted on July 22, 2007

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The stock market has been on a steady roll for the first half of 2007, but few of Southwest Florida's publicly traded companies have been able to ride the wave.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index grew more than 6 percent in the first six months of the year and the Dow Jones Industrials and Nasdaq each gained about 7.5 percent. In the same time, however, 10 of the 16 publicly traded companies based here ended June trading lower than six months ago.

And some of those with gains have simply reclaimed ground lost in 2006.

The reasons for the losses and gains are as varied as the companies, which include national players like luxury homebuilder WCI Communities Inc., women's clothing company Chico's FAS Inc., and Source Interlink, a magazine publisher and distributor.

The companies may not be market behemoths like those represented on the Dow, but together they employ more than 49,000 people nationally and represent market capitalization of more than $9.4 billion.

That diversity is reflected throughout Florida and is key to the mixed results, said David Kamm, an investment adviser with Raymond James. Some sectors are moving strongly while others, particularly builders, continue to struggle.

"I think we are still being controlled by the currents and not by the tide," said Kamm, who writes a column for The News-Press. "If you are in a strong current, you are moving well, but otherwise, you may be stuck."

Neomedia Technologies Inc.

Shares of Neomedia Technologies, the Fort Myers-based mobile technology company, have fallen about 20 percent in the first six months after chief executive officer Charles Jensen resigned and the company began paring back to focus on its marketing platform for mobile phones.

In June, NeoMedia appointed William Hoffman as its new chief executive officer.

Hoffman, 45, a senior technology executive with global technology and telecommunications industry experience, took over on June 18.

Hoffman is a former military officer. Prior to joining NeoMedia, he served as CEO of Uniqua Technologies Inc. in Atlanta, a company he co-founded in 2003 with the acquisition of the assets of TIC Enterprises LLC, and the merger of Vectorlink Communications Corp. TIC was a $100 million subsidiary of NUI Corp., and TIC (now Technology Solutions Corp.) is a national leader in sales and marketing of wireless telecom products and services.

In the quarter ended March 31, the company reported a net loss of $11.9 million, or about 2 cents per share. In the same period a year ago, it lost about $1.5 million, or less than 1 cent per share.


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