Minister mulls charter

Internationally the ICT market was quiet apart from several smallish acquisitions by many of the bigger players.

The latest Fortune magazine contains this year`s '25 Breakout Companies` list that contains some interesting technology organisations.

Paul Booth, MD, Global Research Partners

Locally, the news that the draft ICT charter is now with the communications minister and results from Altron, Dimension Data and Reunert took much of the local ICT headline space.

* Dell`s quarterly results again very acceptable with about $13.4 billion in revenues and profits of over $900 million. At this level of performance, Dell is now the worldwide number three as far as IT companies are concerned, behind IBM and HP and ahead of the Japanese players and also now well into the top 10 ICT list.

* The second national operator partners announced they have reached an agreement on their business plan.

* Very good year-end numbers from Altron with revenue up 22% and attributable earnings up over 30%.

* Very good quarterly figures from Net1 UEPS Technologies (ex Aplitec).

* Good interim figures from Dimension Data with revenue up about 15% but earnings up more than fourfold.

* Good interim results from Reunert with both revenue and attributable earnings up over 17.5%.

* Mediocre interim figures from UCS with revenue up slightly but profits down about 18%.

* A positive trading update from Telkom SA.

* The 60% investment in Gateway Communications by Batsalani Communications.

* Sybase SA bought Denel`s 51% stake in that company.

* Cell C`s proposal to sell 15% of its shares to a Saudi company, Lanun Securities, for about $180 million in a move that would cut its empowerment ownership to 25% but leave its black investors debt-free. However, it is likely that there could be public hearings re this proposal.

* Grintek sold off its mining electronics business, creating a new black empowerment entity that involves two Grintek executives and entrepreneur, Peter Davidson.

* A JSE notice indicates there is an audit opinion on Beget`s annual financial statements that contains an emphasis of matter.

* The appointment of Martin Shaw as chairman of Reunert.

* The resignation of Derek Cooper as chairman of Reunert.

* The appointment of Corex as the South African distributor for Vantec, the thermal solutions manufacturer.

* Ethiopian Telecommunications officially launched Ethiopia`s broadband service.

* The awarding of a fixed-line licence in Angola to Telecom Namibia.

* Acquisitions by IBM, Novell, Sun Microsystems and Sybase.

* The appointments of Aneel Bhusri as chairman of OutlookSoft, Harold Blomquist as president and CEO of Simtek, Thomas Boren as president and CEO of Magnetek, Normand Boulanger as president and CEO of FMC, Robert Carlson as president and CEO of Intelligenxia, Hans Huber as chairman of Versatel, Michael McNamara as CEO of Flextronics, Antonio Perez as chairman and CEO of Eastman Kodak, Rick Tsai as president and CEO of TSMC, and Robert YoungJohns as president and CEO of Callidus Software.

* The resignations of Daniel Carp as chairman and CEO of Eastman Kodak, Pek Yew Chai as president and CEO of Singapore Computer Services, Morris Chang as president and CEO of TSMC, Michael Marks as CEO of Flextronics, Douglas Mitchell as president and CEO of Simtek, and Leo van Doorne as chairman of Versatel.

* Analyst upgrades for Adtran, AMD, Analog Devices, Boston Communications Group, Cablevision Systems, CDW, Convergys, Dell, Ericsson, Flextronics, Internet Security Systems, iPayment, Mediacom Communications, Micromuse, Motorola, NCR, Netflix and Network Appliance.

* Analyst downgrades for Acxiom, Alaska Communications, Citadel Security Software, Cray, Infocrossing, NetIQ, PC Mall, Qualcomm, Sonus Networks, SpectraLink and Staktek.

* A positive results announcement from Vega Group.

* Negative result warnings from CSR, LTX, NTT DoCoMo, QAD, Sigma Designs, Tektronix and Zetex.

* Stock repurchase announcements from Anaren, CTG, Insight Enterprises, Kronos, Linktone, Maxim Integrated Products, SES Global, VimpelCom and Vodafone Omnitel.

* A job loss announcement from Sprint.

* Private funding obtained for Epixtar, a global TeleServices provider; Klocwork, a software testing vendor; Packet Design, a company that develops devices to increase the reliability and efficiency of IP networks; SBE, a vendor of WAN, LAN and storage network interface cards; and Vonage, a provider of VOIP services.

* A stock offering announcement by Zoo Digital.

* A planned IPO on London`s AIM from Centrom, an IT services company.

* A planned IPO on Nasdaq for Eschelon Telecom, a company that offers voice and data services.

* A planned IPO in The Netherlands by TomTom NV, a Dutch company that makes navigation devices and software.

* A satisfactory IPO in London`s LSE by Micro Focus, the first technology stock listed on London`s main board for two years.

* A possible merger between NTL and Telewest, the UK`s two cable operators.

* Developments at Proxim, since it may need to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

* Ethernet service revenue topped $2.5 billion in 2004, according to Infonetics Research. It is expected to more than double in 2005 and jump to $22.2 billion by 2009.

* A total of 692 million mobile phone shipments were made in 2004, an increase of 34% from 2003, according to IDC.

* JSE All share index: Up 0.2%

* Nasdaq: Up 0.4%

* Top SA share movements: Beget Holdings (+14.3%), DataPro (+29.5%), Dimension Data (+11.9%), Elexir (-50%), Faritec (+17.1%), Metrofile (+16.7%), Sekunjalo (-8.9%), Synergy (-16.7%), Xantium (+15.7%) and Zaptronix (+13.3%).

* Top international share movements: AEA Technology (-50.3%), Brillian (+51.6%), Cray (-34.1%), Enherent (-48.6%), Exabyte (+104.2%), Flightstore Group (-46.7%), OneClickHR (+36.4%), Proxim (-59.7%), Read-Rite (-75%) and Silverline Technologies (+42.9%).

The latest Fortune magazine contains this year`s '25 Breakout Companies` list that contains some interesting technology organisations such as AuthenTec (authentec.com), a provider of sensors for cellphones; Orchestria (orchestria.com), a provider of content scanning software; Techfaith Wireless (techfaithwireless.com), a mobile handset designer; WholeSecurity (wholesecurity.com), a provider of Web caller ID software; and Xensource (xensource.com), a provider of open source software and services for PCs.

Some of these are already scheduled to list on Nasdaq latter this year and should be watched with interest. Those excited by companies that are doing something different should check out the full list.