ANYONE EVER SEE THIS FROM 4 YEARS AGO? New Visual finances fine, CEO insistsPortland Business Journal - by Aliza Earnshaw Business Journal staff writer
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A publicly traded tech company relocating to Portland has been struggling with its cash situation, but its CEO says the company has been working hard to turn that situation around.
The company is developing a semiconductor for the telecommunications market.
New Visual Corp., now in the process of relocating from San Diego, Calif., to downtown Portland, reported $1.7 million in accounts payable in its most recent quarterly filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. That money is owed mostly to vendors, said Brad Ketch, who joined New Visual (OTCBB: NVEI) as CEO in December last year.
"Over a long period of time, the company has accrued debt, to service providers in most cases," Ketch said. "We've made considerable progress in reducing that."
In fact, New Visual's accounts payable had reduced by more than $536,000 as of July 31 this year, the end of the company's third quarter, from just under $2.25 million as of Oct. 31 last year.
One method for conserving cash has been to issue stock instead of paying cash to employees, executives and vendors, said Ketch.
"We in essence are saying to them, you have an opportunity to receive from us for services rendered either cash or stock. I owe you a hundred grand, and I say, 'Will you take stock instead?' And if you believe the stock will be worth more than that, you'll take it."
Investors in New Visual, Ketch added, "see that we are successful in issuing stock, and they take it as a vote of confidence."
As further evidence of confidence in the company's future, both Ketch and New Visual chairman Ray Willenberg, Jr. purchased New Visual stock last week. Willenberg, who already owned almost 2.6 million shares, or about 3.8 percent of the company, purchased another 400,000 restricted common shares for $100,000, or 25 cents per share. Ketch, who owned only options until his purchase, bought 40,000 restricted common shares.
Both Ketch and Willenberg are paid in cash, as well as stock options. Willenberg, who served as president and CEO of New Visual until June 1, 2002, received a salary of $258,406 in 2002. Ketch's base salary since he became CEO is $20,833 per month, and he was issued 1.5 million options at 64 cents per share. Earlier this week, New Visual stock was trading over the bulletin board at 24 cents per share.
As in the past, New Visual continues to negotiate some of its consulting and employment agreements to include payment with stock. Consulting agreements made earlier this year, for example, involved issuing 3.2 million shares to pay the consultants.
Some legal settlements that New Visual reports in its latest quarterly SEC filing have involved share-based payments made to past consultants and former officers of the company.
