Last stand - or all OK for Corel?

Corel has denied rumours that it is up for sale, despite reports that it has been approached by suitors including IBM.

The rumours emerged last week after Corel?s shares leapt by 25 per cent despite the company posting massive fourth quarter losses. Industry analysts said takeover rumours were a contributing factor to the rise in the stock price.

Questioned about the future of the company, a spokesperson for Corel said: ?As far as we are concerned we have not been approached by any company and we are not up for sale.?

IBM refused to comment on any possible deal.

Corel warned of its Q4 fallback in December and issued a preliminary report anticipating a $95 million loss.

The actual loss, announced last week, was only $67 million but total losses for 1997 were $231.8 million. Sales plummeted 65 per cent to $43.6 million in the fourth quarter and fell 22 per cent to $260.6 million for the full year.

Corel entered the spotlight with its graphics software program, CorelDraw. The company later bought the Wordperfect applications business from Novell and announced plans to transform itself into a software giant. But so far it has failed to be any threat to Microsoft. The company is attempting to guarantee its future by investing in new Java-based technology and network computer products.

? Report by VNU US Newswire