Restructurings Will Pay Off For These Two

Article Excerpt

SHERMAG INC. $1.74 (Toronto symbol SMG; SI Rating: Speculative) (819-566-1515; www.shermag.com; Shares outstanding: 13.3 million; Market cap: $23.7 million) has suffered the past few years from the strength of the Canadian dollar, which raises its export prices to the U.S. market, and from high production expenses. Shermag has started to close plants and shift production to China to cut costs. However, it’s still losing money. Shermag reported 31% lower sales in its fiscal first quarter ended June 29, 2007, to $29.3 million from $42.5 million. The company lost $0.29 a share, compared to a loss $0.33 a share a year earlier. Last year it lost $1.30 a share, and the year before $2.39 a share. New board member sparks share rise Shermag’s shares rose recently after the announcement that activist investor George Armoyan will join Shermag’s board of directors. Shermag’s president has stepped down from the board to provide a seat. Armoyan now controls the five-member board. Armoyan first purchased about 12% of Shermag’s…