GDC looks for success in hands of new leadership

By PETER GRIFFIN

After a collection of events conspired to drag GDC to a $4.6 million loss last year, the company is looking to its new faces to smooth the path ahead.

Speaking at his first annual meeting as the head of a public company, GDC's managing director, Geoff Lawrie, said his enthusiasm for the company was not the "groundless confidence" of a new broom.

The former Microsoft managing director said a "substantial opportunity" existed in providing voice and data over one network as managed services - where GDC has gone with its iVASP business .

Lawrie also pointed out that the company had undergone a management overhaul.

"Of the 10 people who currently occupy board and senior management team positions, only three of those people were with the company at the last annual meeting," he said.

Former Telecom executive Kevin Stratful had become a non-executive director at GDC.

A successful trial of iVASP with Telecom was near completion and orders received for the division this year would double its revenue.

Much of last year's loss came from GDC's NextGen division, which sells business telephone systems. It had an operating loss of $3.4 million and revenue declined to $14 million from $25 million in 2001. The fledgling iVASP division lost $2.3 million.

A $2.9 million operating profit in GDC's telecoms contracting business was offset by restructuring costs and writeoffs.

Last year was considered to be GDC's worst since 1994, but management was more optimistic about this year and the continued "transition" from Telecom-dependent contractor to converged IT services player.