Ixia Aims to Name CEO, Cuts Jobs

Test and measurement vendor Ixia is aiming to hire a new CEO by the end of the third quarter, and has started a round of job cuts as it looks to become current in its quarterly earnings filings with the SEC, in hopes of maintaining its NASDAQ listing.

Ixia (Nasdaq: XXIA) founder, chairman and acting CEO Errol Ginsberg said during a business update call that the company is close to naming a new CEO, after spending the last 10 months with Ginsberg at the helm. Ginsberg jumped into the job in the fall of 2013, after previous CEO Victor Alston was shown the door over charges that he lied about his education and other resume details, including his age. (See Ixia Chief Fails Veracity Test .)

Ginsberg and COO Alex Pepe also disclosed on the call that Ixia has started an expense reduction program that involves cutting about 5% to 6% of its workforce, which according to recent published reports, stands at about 1,400 employees. Pepe said the cuts are happening in "high cost centers" in the US and EMEA regions, and across the entire organization, including at the management level, but would not impact sales efforts.

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Ixia continues to have its work cut out for it, as the company must become current with its quarterly earnings filings to the SEC by Sept. 12 in order to keep its stock listed on NASDAQ. The company has struggled to stay current with its filings since the third quarter last year. Only this week, Ixia announced its preliminary earnings for the first quarter of 2014, while also announcing plans to file its second-quarter report by next month's NASDAQ deadline. (See Embattled Ixia Finds a Fan and Ixia Files 2013 Results.)

Though Ginsberg said expected first-quarter revenue of $114 million is slightly above the company's own estimate of $109 million to $113 million, Ixia saw lower spending from top customer AT&T. It also saw lower than expected bookings in its Network Visibility Solutions business due to "sales integration activities" with Net Optics, which Ixia acquired last December.

— Dan O'Shea, Managing Editor, Light Reading