Krystle Chow’s Online Portfolio

By KRYSTLE CHOW
Published on the front page of the Ottawa Business Journal and on its website.
Sept. 8, 2009

Click here to view this article on OttawaBusinessJournal.com.

Sources say NCI’s last days included layoff announcement during forced vacation

A local former customer of insolvent telecom firm Natural Convergence Inc. has filed a notice of appeal to block the sale of NCI’s assets to Broadview Networks, according to receivership documents obtained by OBJ.

While there were no details as to the reasons for the notice of appeal, the first report of the receiver, PricewaterhouseCoopers, showed Ottawa-based BluArc Communications Inc. has asked that the receiving and vesting orders related to NCI’s sale of its flagship Silhouette voice-over-Internet protocol technology be stayed (more…)

By KRYSTLE CHOW
Published in the Ottawa Business Journal newspaper and website.
June 29, 2009 (July 2 on OttawaBusinessJournal.com)

Bridgewater could beneft from the one area where carriers are still spending

Bridgewater CEO Ed Ogonek.
Photo by ETIENNE RANGER for the Ottawa Business Journal

While many other tech companies have seen their stock value plunge since the onset of the recession as customers trim or delay their spending, Bridgewater Systems is one of the few exceptions.

Although its share price has dipped somewhat in recent weeks, over the past six months its value has more than doubled, hitting a 52-week high of $5.25 in May that brought it close to revisiting its $5.50 initial public offering price. With record revenues in its last fiscal year and recent deals with major partners and customers, as well as a successful compromise with shareholder Crescendo Partners that helped avert a messy proxy battle, the path seems clear for the mobile service management software firm to capitalize on the rising popularity of the smartphone. So is there a downside?

The company’s view: Bridgewater CEO Ed Ogonek has said the company is at the “front stage of a mobile data revolution.” As more people request services and add more applications onto their mobile devices, demand for Bridgewater’s subscriber management and policy control technology is expected to soar, which makes sense considering many users are already drowning in a sea of applications ranging from the mundane and functional to a plethora of online games.

Mr. Ogonek noted the company is debt-free, has reported profits in 19 out of its last 20 quarters and, notably, has enough cash to be conducting an ongoing share buyback program and to be considering strategic acquisitions. (more…)

By KRYSTLE CHOW
Published in the Ottawa Business Journal newspaper and website.
June 8, 2009

Shift from Canadian GAAP to new standards not just a matter for finance departments

Carol Devenny of PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Photo by ETIENNE RANGER for the Ottawa Business Journal

Although it isn’t until Jan. 1, 2011 that reporting issuers must officially switch from using current Canadian accounting standards – known as Generally Accepted Accounting Principles – to the new International Financial Reporting Standards, many firms have already started the complicated, multi-phase process.

And not a moment too soon, experts say. “It’s not just an accounting change,” says Carol Devenny, who’s in charge of PricewaterhouseCooper’s audit practice.

Among other things, the level of disclosure required of a company will increase, meaning most departments, if not all, will have to start gathering new and more detailed types of information to comply. A firm might find it has to overhaul its entire IT system to accommodate the changes, some say.

As well, adds Ms. Devenny, shareholders will have to be appraised (more…)

By KRYSTLE CHOW
Published in the Ottawa Business Journal and on its website.
May 18, 2009 (May 20 on OttawaBusinessJournal.com)

Click here to view this article on OttawaBusinessJournal.com.

An OBJ reporter joins the search for a popular retailer and other peddlers of fashionable wares

Ever since those surreal television commercials began airing in March, depicting a curly-haired blond and swarthy suit-clad man in rooms with ladders and Alice-in-Wonderland doors, I’ve been one of many Ottawans wondering if Swedish fashion retailer H&M is close to opening its first store in the nation’s capital.

Local retail industry observers have been buzzing about the possibility for years, and devoted Facebookers – yours truly included – have bombarded H&M’s discussion boards with pleas to bring the store to Ottawa, especially in the wake of new openings in smaller cities such as Peterborough, Ont. and Dartmouth, N.S.

Posted one online commenter: “Ottawa’s … full of young government workers who have loads of disposable income, and not one store … It’s almost insulting … Maybe one day Ottawa will be deemed ‘worthy.’”

It seems the time is nigh considering that (more…)

By KRYSTLE CHOW
Published on the front page of the Ottawa Business Journal and on its website.
Feb. 2, 2009

Click here to view this article on OttawaBusinessJournal.com.

Defence company’s future rests in hands of Tailwind shareholders

Defence company Allen-Vanguard could see some of its debt woes eased with a proposed $40-million takeover by a U.S. buyout firm, but analysts say the transaction is far from a done deal.

Allen-Vanguard announced last week it had agreed to merge with Delaware-based special purpose acquisition firm Tailwind Financial Inc., a deal which would allow the bomb-jammer and blast suit maker to recapitalize. Tailwind said it will offer 0.046493 of a common share for every Allen-Vanguard share, pricing the latter at almost double their current market value. At the same time, Allen-Vanguard will carry out a shareholder rights offering that could raise as much as $100 million.

The new company is to be known as Allen Vanguard Corp. (more…)

By KRYSTLE CHOW
Published in the Fall/Winter 2008 edition of Ottawa At Home Magazine.

Click here to view this article on OttawaAtHome.ca.

Chef Bento Sushi’s
Baked Scallop Roll.
Photo by JONATHAN KUNG.

Take a tour of Ottawa’s favourite sushi restaurants

For most lovers of food from faraway lands, sushi is no longer just scary scraps of raw fish that you have to fumble to pick up with your chopsticks.

In fact, it isn’t uncommon to find your standard – but unfortunately oh-so-blah – California roll and salmon sushi at the local supermarket or mall food court. But where can serious sushi samplers in search of more exotic fare find those oases of Zen in Ottawa? Sushi fanatic Krystle Chow went on the hunt for places that tantalize and tempt her taste buds and found these five favourites. (more…)