Trintech rises on news of €5m share buy-back plan

Trintech shares edged 6.87 per cent higher yesterday following an announcement that its shareholders had approved a $5 million (€5 million) share buy-back plan to boost the Irish firm's flagging share price.

The purchase, which follows a recent one-to-four consolidation of the shares on the Nasdaq, will be funded from the technology firm's cash reserves, which stand at $50 million. Trintech develops software that enables firms to offer electronic payments.

Trintech co-founder and chairman Mr Cyril McGuire said the buy-back plan was a vote of confidence in the firm expressed by the board, which felt the company's shares were undervalued.

He said the firm had not held discussions on whether it should be taken private and it had received no approaches from others interested in acquiring Trintech. He said the firm's guidance of becoming profitable by the end of 2002 stood, and it had sufficient capital to grow in the future. "I have the motivation and passion to turn this company around," said Mr McGuire.

Trintech, which commanded a market capitalisation of $4.6 billion during the hype of the dotcom era, is now valued at just $21 million following a collapse in confidence in technology companies.

Mr McGuire, speaking after the company's a.g.m. in Dublin yesterday, said the buy-back plan should be earnings enhancing for existing shareholders as he believed the stock market was not reflecting the firm's true value.

Trintech would continue to "right-size the organisation" and he could not rule out the possibility of further job cuts.

Trintech reduced its workforce to 450 from 584 in the second quarter of 2001.

Mr McGuire said Trintech was not acting to keep its share price above the $1 figure that is required to keep its listing on the Nasdaq stock exchange.

However, the move follows a decision by Trintech to perform a one-for-four consolidation of its shares on the Nasdaq in late May. Mr McGuire also invested more than $120,000 to buy 150,000 of the shares before they were consolidated on Nasdaq.

But the company's shares have continued their downward spiral since the purchases and, despite yesterday's announcement, Trintech closed up just 6.87 per cent on the Nasdaq last night to close at $1.40.

Mr Paul Phelan, technology analyst with Davys Stockbrokers, said there was no doubt Trintech looked undervalued and was capable of generating a profit. But its present share price reflected the way the markets were giving firms a negative value, he added.