ICASA sets telecoms target

The ongoing Oracle/PeopleSoft saga dominated the international world of IT and telecommunications last week, a week that included the Thanksgiving Day holiday in the US.

At home, ICASA`s announcements re telecoms liberalisation stole much of the local ICT headline space.

* We saw very good year-end figures from UCS (revenue and profit both well up);

* Satisfactory full-year numbers from Paracon (revenue up slightly but earnings nearly double);

* Mediocre interim results from Eureka Industrial (revenue and profit both down);

* A positive trading update from FrontRange but negative trading updates from Sekunjalo Investments and Vesta Technology.

Other local news included:

* A briefing from ICASA re its stance on telecoms liberalisation and its target of forwarding amended regulations to government by 21 January 2005;

* The placing of EC-Hold under provisional liquidation;

* Labat Software Solutions` investment in barcodealliance;

* The establishment of a new venture, Asbis Africa, a joint venture between Cyprus-based Asbis Group and Sifikile Technology as a supplier of computer peripherals and components;

* Johnnic Holdings sold off its remaining shares in MTN;

* The possible de-listing of Uniserv following a proposed merger with Supply Solutions;

* The finalisation of the Altech/Econet Wireless deal;

* The appointment of David Redshaw as chairman of CS Holdings; and

* The Black Management Forum Investment Company`s 26% investment in Computershare SA.

New local distributorships included that of Chenbro by Rectron.

On the African scene, Morocco is to sell 14.9% of its national telephone company, Maroc Telecom, in the country`s largest ever privatisation deal.

* We saw much activity re the proposed Oracle/PeopleSoft acquisition;

* The sell-off by Philips Electronics of its stake in Vivendi;

* Baltimore Technologies` planned de-listing from the LSE; and

* The possible buy-out of bankrupt telecoms company Thrunet by Dacom.

An international strategic partnership was announced between Dassault Systemes and CAXA.

Sales at Bull SA, the French hardware and IT services provider, continue to decline rapidly and it looks as if two of its major shareholders could pull out in the coming months.

Paul Booth, MD, Global Research Partners

Additionally, look out for a possible take-over of Atos Origin SA, the French IT services company, and the impact, if any, of a possible bid for PinkRoccade NV by Ordina NV despite an offer on the table for the former by Getronics NV; a possible sale or merger by Reuters Group that includes the involvement of Instinet Group, which is 62%-owned by the former; and the consummation of a deal between Easy Group and T-Mobile that would see the launch of a new low-cost mobile arm in the UK.

Other international news included:

* The appointments of Larry Barker as chairman of Visual Networks, Pierre Danon as COO of Capgemini SA, Steven Dussek as chairman of MobileAccess Networks, Alan Goldsworthy as CEO of SalesNet, Shuichi Otsuka as president of Hiroshima Elpida, Gerald Paul as CEO of Vishay Intertechnology, John Swainson as CEO of Computer Associates, Jack Sweeney as CEO of Network Intelligence and Donald Uzzi as president and CEO of Merisel;

* The resignations of Pierre Danon as head of BT Retail, David McQuillan as CEO of Aspen Technology and Felix Zandman as CEO of Vishay Intertechnology; and

* Job loss announcements from Cingular Wireless and HP.

We saw excellent* figures from Leitch Technology (back in the black); and very good* numbers from Creative Computer Applications (back in the black), Detica, Global Payment Technologies (back in the black), iTouch (back in the black), Proginet (back in the black) and RDM (back in the black).

Good figures* were recorded by Brocade Comms, Business Systems Group (back in the black), CSI, Dycom Industries, Formula Systems, MKS (back in the black), Printing.com, RM and Wind River Systems (back in the black); and satisfactory* ones by Analog Devices, Sigma Designs and Tech Data.

Mediocre* returns came from DataMirror, Intelek, Nintendo (but back in the black), OTE Group, SysOpen and Workplace Systems; while very poor results* came from Business Serve (but back in the back) and CML Microsystems (but back in the black).

Losses* were posted by Celtron, Cimatron, Cirmaker Technology, CNT, Computer Software, Creative Vista, DF China Technology, Documedia Solutions, eircom Group, Eltek, Fonix, Incentra Solutions, NeWare, Network Installation, Orad Hi-Tec Systems, Plasmon, PPOL, Storage Computer, Seagull Software, Telenetics, TiVo Tricom SA, TRL Electronics, Unify, VirtGame and XKO Group.

Other financial news included analyst upgrades for AirGate PCS, Ask Jeeves, Brocade Comms, Computer Network Technology, Conexant Systems, Deutsche Telekom, Intel, LeCroy, LG Philips, Magna International and SigmaTel; analyst downgrades for Alliance Imaging, BellSouth, Benchmark Electronics, Cable & Wireless, Cablevision, Comverse Technology, Extreme Networks, Fairchild Semiconductor, Infineon Technologies, Merge Technologies, OmniVision Technologies, On Semiconductor, SBC Comms and VeriSign; and private placement of shares by eMerge, LanOptics and VerticalNet.

There were share offerings from Loudeye and Superconductor Technologies; private funding obtained for Bluespec, Lightningcast and MDU Comms; private placement of notes by Rogers Cable and Rogers Wireless; share buy-back announcements from AsiaInfo Holdings, Fiserv, Hummingbird, Matsushita Electric, Micros and NTT; a positive results/profit warning from SigmaTel; and negative results/profit warnings (often veiled) from HP and SeaChange International.

There were also proposed IPOs from software company Ascribe on London`s AIM, Dolby Labs on the NYSE, Grace Semiconductor Manufacturing, probably in Hong Kong, and marketing management vendor Unica on Nasdaq; and IPO filings from Stento, a specialist in digital picture archive and comms systems. Virgin Mobile USA, jointly owned by Sprint and the Virgin Group, is also considering a possible listing next year; Aspen Technology is to re-state its financial statements from 2000; and Robotic Vision Systems has filed for Chapter 11 protection.

Locally

DataPro (+20%)
I-Solutions (+100%)
Jasco (-10.8%)
Labat Africa (+13%)
MTN (+18.8%)
Paracon (-15%)
Pinnacle (+10.4%)
Telkom SA (+10.9%)
UCS (-16.5%)
Zaptronix (+50%)

Internationally

Bitstream (+36.3%)
Creative Computer Applications (+139%)
Digital Lightwave (+42.5%)
Eagle Broadband (+47.5%)
Earthport (+63.6%)
eTechnology (+35.4%)
GB Group (+28.6%)
Maisha (-37.5%)
Ultrasis (-26.9%)
Vasco Data Security (+58.9%)

In terms of indices, the Nasdaq was up 1.5% and the JSE up 0.8% for the week.

Sales at Bull SA, the French hardware and IT services provider, continue to decline rapidly and it looks as if two of its major shareholders, Motorola and the French government, could pull out in the coming months, leaving the company in the hands of France Telecom, NEC, employees and Dai Nippon Printing.

Although the impact is minimal in SA, there are French-speaking countries in Africa where Bull SA does have an influence/presence. I wonder whether its days are finally numbered since it has now been rescued several times over the past few years by loans from the French government, much to the chagrin of the European Commission.

NB

Guidelines for the categorisation of results are as follows and are always in comparison with the equivalent period for the previous year; pro forma numbers are ignored (the terminology may vary slightly from country to country).

* Excellent: Both revenue and net income growth in excess of 50%.

* Very good: Both revenue and net income growth in excess of 25%.

* Good: Both revenue and net income growth in excess of 10%.

* Satisfactory: Revenue is within 10% of previous year and net income is up.

* Mediocre: Either revenue and/or net income is down.

* Very poor: Net income is less than 1% of revenue.

* Loss: A loss has been recorded.