MS hit with more anti-trust allegations

Apart from the news about Microsoft and its various anti-trust positioning announcements, the international ICT market was very quiet.

From the quarterly results announced, very good numbers came from Top Image Systems and VA Software, although BEA Systems and Symbol Technologies posted disappointing figures.

On the local ICT scene, it was again very quiet but this week could hot up with news of a battle for control of Prism.

* Microsoft faced new anti-trust complaints in both Europe and the US. In the US, Tangent, a hardware vendor, has made accusations, and in Europe, IBM and Oracle have filed fresh complaints with the European Commission.
* Altech made an offer for Prism with a price 13.5% higher than that made by Net1 UEPS Technologies the previous week. This could result in a bidding war.

* Very good interim numbers from Faritec with both revenue and profit well up.
* Satisfactory interim figures from Compu-Clearing with revenue up nearly 5% but earnings up about 40%.
* A positive trading statement from Interconnective Solutions.
* The transformation of NokusaEI, the company created by the black empowerment deal between Engineering Infomatics and Nokusa Investments, into an enterprise content management consulting firm.
* Fontera, a mobile development company, opened a US office.
* The 25% investment by Khuba Consulting, a consulting company owned entirely by black women, in MarketWorks Advisory.

This week could hot up with news of a battle for control of Prism.

Paul Booth, MD, Global Research Partners

* The Malawi Telecommunications deal finally materialised.
* Vodacom withdrew from its discussions with V-Mobile.
* Celtel is re-looking at a possible listing in London. The original plans fell away following the acquisition of Celtel by Kuwait`s MTC.

* Sun Microsystems acquired Aduva, a software company providing patch management tools for Linux and Solaris platforms.
* The name change of Interland to Web.com.
* The announcement of an anti-trust probe by the European Union into Telefonica.
* The appointments of Mark Holleran as president and CEO of Xplore, Jonathan Huberman as CEO of Iomega, Kenneth Myers as president and CEO of Digital Lightwave, Fumio Ohtsubo as president of Matsushita Electric, Dean Personne as CEO of Peak International, David Wittwer as president and CEO of TDS Telecom (as from 1 January 2007), and Heini Zachariassen as CEO of BullGuard.
* The resignations of Tony Hill as CEO of Micro Focus and Raymond Yang as CEO of Linktone.
* The retirement of James Barr as president and CEO of TDS Telecom (as from 31 December).
* Analyst upgrades for ASM International NV, Cerner, Ciber, Emulex, Entrust and Plexus.
* Analyst downgrades for Intersil, KLA-Tencor, Netgear, Novatel Wireless, Qwest Communications, SBA Communications, Tekelec, Teradyne and Tibco Software.
* Negative result warnings from EarthLink, Micro Focus, SSA Global and Tekelec.
* Stock repurchase announcements from CenturyTel, EDS, Equifax, Fiserv and Ikon Office Solutions.
* A job loss announcement from Avici Systems.
* Private funding obtained for airBand Communications, a fixed wireless carrier; Celtron, a mobile commerce applications provider; mBlox, a mobile messaging infrastructure provider; and Netifice Communications, a managed IP services provider.
* A private placing of stock by Loudeye, a B2B digital media solutions company.
* A stock offering announcement by Rackable Systems.
* A share split announcement from Somera Communications (reverse).
* A satisfactory IPO on London`s AIM by Elitel Telecom SpA, the Italian telecommunications group.
* A planned IPO by Wintegra, a networks access processor developer.

* A possible bid for Irish telecommunications operator, Eircom Group, by Australian buyout company, Babcock & Brown.
* The outcome of the talks by Cable & Wireless re the sell-off of its 20% stake in Bahrain Telecommunications.

* Worldwide server shipments jumped 12.7% in 2005, while revenue rose only 4.5% to $51.68 billion, says Gartner.

* JSE All share index: Up 0.5%
* Nasdaq: Up 0.2%
* Top SA share movements: Beget Holdings (-14.3%), Digicore (+13.4%), Dynamic Cables (+21.2%), I-Solutions (+13.3%), Idion (+19%), Labat Africa (+23.1%), Prism (+11.7%), Stella Vista (+14.3%), Vesta (+16.7%) and Zaptronix (+11.1%).
* Top international share movements: CellStar (+27%), eGain Communications (-21.9%), Epicus Communications Group (+38.9%), MCT (+21.2%), Merge Technologies (-21.6%), SEMX (-37.5%), Silverline Technologies (+38,5%), Syniverse Holdings (-33.1%) and VA Software (+27.7%).

The fight for Prism could boost local consolidation, particularly within the listed technology community. Business Connexion and Dimension Data are already attracting attention, but there are several others who could also be in the frame. The next few weeks and months could be very interesting.