Local BEE boost

The compensation payout by MCI (formerly WorldCom) dominated the international world of IT and telecommunications last week.

A new strategic business alliance was announced between AXS-One and Vula Technologies.

Paul Booth, MD, Global Research Partners

At home, a handful of empowerment deals stole the local ICT headline space.

* we saw full-year results from Datatec (revenue slightly down);

* good interim figures from Sekunjalo Investments;

* satisfactory interim numbers from Spescom (revenue up a little and back in the black);

* mediocre half-year figures from UCS (revenue well up but earnings down); and

* a jobs reduction announcement from the MTN Group.

Other local news included:

* a share re-purchase announcement from Connection Group;

* the appointments of Gavin Padayachee as MD of CSS Tirisano and Peter Pooe as chairman of CSS Tirisano;

* the resignation of Gustav van der Gryp as chairman and CEO of CSS Distributors;

* the announcement of African Legend Indigo, the new black economic empowerment company set up from the buyout by African Legend Technologies and the management and staff of MGX Enterprise Solutions;

* Pretoria-based software developer PreWorX re-located its head office to London;

* Connection Group sold off 50% of its shareholding in Enterprise Connection; and

* Tshanduko invested in Cirrus TechVue.

New local distributorships included that of Esquire Technologies for CTX products in SA, while a new strategic business alliance was announced between AXS-One and Vula Technologies.

* Marconi re-listed on the London Stock Exchange;

* MCI, formerly WorldCom, agreed to pay out $500 million to fraud victims;

* Hutchison Whampoa sold off half its stakes in Deutsche Telekom and Vodafone; and

* Gartner warned that corporates should immediately suspend the use of Microsoft`s Passport for customer authentication to online services until the product proves to have adequate security.

Additionally, look out for the Seiko Epson IPO that is planned for Japan next month and one that is potentially going to be the largest in Japan this year; and the buyer for UK-based Baltimore Technologies.

Other international news included:

* the appointment of Michael Bradley as president of Teradyne;

* the resignation of John Hawkins CEO of Anite; and

* job loss announcements from CODASciSys, HP, IBM, Legato Systems, National Semiconductor, PCCW/Telstra joint venture and Silicon Graphics.

We saw excellent* figures from eLinear (back in the black) and Marvell Technology Group; and very good* numbers from Electronic Boutique and eOn Comms (back in the black).

Good figures* were recorded by Applied Signal Technology, Aveva Group, Detica, PeopleNet Comms, Quality Systems and Serena Software.

Satisfactory* results were posted by BT Group (back in the black), ebix.com, Elbit Systems, HP, Intelsat and Sega (back in the black), New Horizons, SBE (back in the black), Synopsys (back in the black), Westell Technologies (back in the black) and Xeta Technologies.

Mediocre* returns came from Autodesk, Docucorp, GB Group (but back in the black), Gilat Satellite Networks, Innovative Software Technologies, Nintendo and Roxio; while very poor results* were reported by Crystal Systems Solutions (but back in the black).

Losses* came from ADC, Agilent Technologies, Arel Comms & Software, BakBone Software, Ciena, Citadel Security Software, Commtouch, Convera, Covista Comms, Credence Systems, Crescent Comms, Crossroads Systems, Crosswave Comms, Csii, Danka Business Systems, Ditech Comms, Dotronix, eB2B Commerce, Eiger Technology, eMagin, FiberCore, Formula Systems, Freestar Technology, GlobeTel Comms, I-Link, IIJ, Imagination Technologies, Impsat, Intec Telecom Systems, MmO2, NetStore, Novell, On Command, Photronics, Portal Software, PPT Vision, Reptron Electronics, Robotic Vision Systems, rStar, SeaView Video Technology, SEEC, SkillSoft, SSP Solutions, Stronghold technologies, Storage Area Networks, TiVo, Tricom, VA Software, ViaSat, Warp Technology Holdings, Wind River Systems and World Wireless Comms.

Other financial news included share buy-back announcements from LCA-Vision and Trend Micro; shareholders rights plans from Dot Hill; results/profit warnings (often veiled) from Anite, Autodesk and Cisco; and a share split announcement from Vitria (reverse).

Locally

Control (-15.7%)
Datatec (+16%)
Global Technology (+40%)
IST (+16.3%)
MGX (+11.4%)
Prism (+20%)
Spescom (+53.2%)
Synergy (-40%)

Internationally

Actuate (-30.1%)
Auspex Systems (+31.6%)
Baltimore Technology (+40%)
Com21 (+35.7%)
Captiva Software (+30.4%)
Dobson Comms (+43.3%)
Indigo Vision (+90%)
Information Resources (+36.3%)
PCD (+33.3%)
SVI (+47.3%)

In terms of indices, Nasdaq was down 1.8% and the JSE up 1.2% for the week.

With Computer Faire well behind us, the two main events in the ICT world locally are the two international conferences from the Meta Group and Gartner, with the former taking place this week at Caesars Gauteng and the latter in Cape Town in early August.

* NB

Guidelines for the categorisation of results are as follows. The figures 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 are in excess of 50%.

* Good: Both revenue and net income growth are 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.