US-based rugged tablet computing company Xplore Technologies has today provided an update regarding its ongoing strategic realignment initiative.
The company filed a Form 8-K on 21 June as part of that process, announcing that Brian Usher-Jones, an independent director, had notified the board of directors that he intends to not stand for re-election at the next annual meeting of the company’s stockholders.
The nomination and governance committee of the board is presently searching for potential candidates to serve as an independent director in Mr. Usher-Jones’ place.
Xplore chairman of the board Philip Sassower said: "The strategic framework developed over the past year has driven notable progress in our efforts to transition Xplore towards a profitable, cash-flow generating business.
"To that end, we continue to improve both our operations and corporate governance. In Fiscal 2017, we reduced operating expenses 21% year-over-year, invested into new sales teams and commenced a number of product refreshes.
"While progress has been difficult at times, we are pleased to see early indications of success. These include growth in orders from our European business lines, continued success with major customer accounts and more than $10m in cash-flow generated in the last six months of Fiscal 2017.
"Our work is not done, and we remain focused on maximising Xplore’s business opportunities each quarter to take full advantage of the operating leverage embedded in our new operating model."
Sassower continued: "We thank Brian Usher-Jones for years of dedicated service to Xplore and our stockholders, including crucial support through our recapitalisation, uplisting to the NASDAQ Stock Market and the Motion asset acquisition.
"Brian’s retirement is a continuation of the proactive director rotation initiative Xplore embarked upon last fall, and will represent the third new independent director to join our board in the span of just nine months.
"We previously announced the appointment of Tom Pickens as an independent director in November 2016, and Don Neville as an independent director and chair of our audit committee in January 2017; we look forward to welcoming another new independent director with experience and insights relevant to Xplore’s strategic focus."
Xplore also announced that its compensation committee had commenced a comprehensive review of the company’s compensation practices following the change in executive structure announced in April, in which Mark Holleran was promoted to the role of chief executive officer, formerly occupied by Mr. Sassower, in addition to his position as president of the company.
The review is ongoing and recommendations of the compensation committee will be reviewed by the full board upon completion of the process.
Please contact Xplore via the enquiries form for more information.