Market place : Stonesoft (Sophia) looses 59 % in one day

The American Nasdaq is not the only one that can be pitiless. On Wednesday February 7th, the Helsinki’s market place, in Finland, has experienced one of the biggest fall ever recorded there in one single day : the Stonesoft collapse, a Finnish company creating security software on Internet, a company which, moreover, owns a big research and development center in Sophia Antipolis (about fifty employees). Thus, on Wednesday the Stonesoft’s share lost 59 % after the results of 2000 have been revealed. However, the results seemed more than creditable since the company’s turnover increased by 112 % compared to last year (it reached more than 350 million FIMS, that is to say almost 390 million French francs). The result, decreasing by 12 million FIMS, and, above all, the doubts about the firm’s activity in the United-States would explain such a spectacular stock-exchange punishment.