Lernout & Hauspie co-founders step down

The two co-founders of Lernout & Hauspie (L&H) have resigned as joint chairmen and managing directors as the Belgian speech recognition specialist attempts to recover from its financial woes.

Roel Pieper, former chief executive at Tandem Computers, will replace Jo Lernout and Pol Hauspie as chairman, while John Duerden, who was appointed chief executive in August, becomes sole managing director. Company officials said the executive changes are part of "steps towards resolving recent controversies affecting the company".

L&H also confirmed that it would restate its financials for the past 10 months, following a company-wide audit.

The probe was related to its Korean division and was mounted after allegations that some companies, which L&H identified as Korean customers, denied doing any business with the firm. An employee of LG Electronics, one of 18 alleged customers, said it had never bought products or licences from L&H.

L&H also warned yesterday that its revenues for the third quarter, which ended 30 September, will be at least $40m below its previously published range of $165m to $185m.

Lernout and Hauspie will stay on as vice chairmen of the board and will chair its technology advisory committee. Hauspie has taken a leave of absence from his responsibilities as a director for medical reasons, the company said.

L&H is also expected to appoint a new chief financial officer to replace Carl Dammekens, who will assume another position within the company.