A few thoughtsFirst off, probably a form of silver lining in the timing of the CFO's departure (given that he IS departing).
Typically, a CFO will depart (early in a year) only AFTER the year-end audit has been completed. So one can probably infer that the 2021 YE audit now has been completed without a hitch. (Not good if the audit can't be completed in a timely manner--which sometimes happens. I've seen it. Oy.)
This interpretation (audit is done) is supported by the detail that John Rim is assisting with the transition. (If the audit was not-easily-completeable and the CFO was leaving right away anyways, well, the CFO would NOT be assisting with anything.)
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Filings related to the Q4 release and AGM should start appearing soon. Here's the schedule from last year:
Feb. 12 - Notice of AGM
Feb. 25 - date of Q4 release announced
March 11 - Q4 results + Annual Information Form released
March 19 - AGM documents released
April 14 - AGM (online)
April 22 - Q1 results released
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I won't be shocked if Q4 is a loss. Wilan did do a licencing deal before YE but I'm guessing it was small.
I also won't be shocked if Q4 ex-Wilan is profitable. We'll see.
And, of course, I'd think, Q4 will include a special charge relating to the CEO change, HQ move, etc. They'll probably throw in everything they can so that 2022 can start with a clean slate.
There's two things I wonder about.
One, if there will be any changes to the board of directors. It is a bit of a weird situation where we have (becoming) a pure ITS story with pretty close to a pure IP NPE board of directors. I could imagine some exits and entrances. I could also imagine a smaller board in terms of numbers. I'd be surprised if there were no changes. But at the end of the day I'd probably be fine with any John+Bret meeting of the minds.
Two, will there be any re-branding? I doubt anyone has any deep emotional attachment to the Quarterhill name. It only goes back to 2017. I've had some of my own thoughts as to what might be a better name but none of them grab me--yet. Maybe this is something for people to think about down the road.
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And then there's Apple. Oh, and that strategic review.