NEW YORK—Comverse Technology Inc. offered a glimmer of good news even as it is embroiled in a stock options investigation that forced the company to delay its most recent financial report.
The company said it achieved its 14th consecutive quarter of sales growth and marked the highest quarterly sales in its history during its first fiscal quarter that ended April 30. First-quarter revenues were $373.5 million, up 10.6 percent from fourth-quarter revenues and up 36.9 percent from first-quarter 2005 revenues.
However, due to an ongoing review of its stock option grant practices, the company said it missed a June 9 Securities and Exchange Commission deadline for filing its first-quarter and annual reports. The company did not provide a date by which it plans to file its 10-Q report, saying only it plans to issue the quarterly report, annual report and restated historical financial statements as soon as possible after a special committee of the company’s board of directors concludes its review of the stock option case.
The delay could threaten the company’s stock listing on the Nasdaq Stock Market. Comverse said it met with Nasdaq officials recently about the matter, but market officials have yet to issue a ruling on whether the company’s stock can continue to trade.
Comverse’s stock option practices have prompted a criminal investigation by the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, and several high-level executives have resigned in the wake of investigation, including Chief Executive Officer Kobi Alexander, Chief Financial Officer David Kreinberg and William Sorin, the company’s senior general counsel and corporate secretary.
