Novell`s numbers disappoint

Internationally there was no earth-shattering ICT news. However, from a quarterly results perspective, Novell`s numbers were very disappointing. On the local ICT front, the week was dominated by numerous results announcements.

* Digicore posted very good interim figures with revenue up over 35% and income up over 40%.
* GijimaAst released good interim figures with revenue up nearly 20% and back in the black.
* Mustek announced satisfactory interim figures with revenues up about 15% and profits up about 4%.
* Bidoffice, part of the Bidvest Group, posted satisfactory interim numbers with both revenue and profits up.
* Mymarket.com, part of the Bidvest Group, announced an interim loss.
* A positive trading update from Pinnacle Technology.
* The suspension of VenFin`s shares following the buyout of its shareholding in Vodacom.
* Net 1 UEPS raised its bid for Prism to equal that offered by Altech.
* US-based F5 Networks entered SA via EnterWeb, part of the EOH Group.
* Logitech opened a South African office.

Following an announcement from Net 1 UEPS late on Friday evening, it seems the battle is on for the control of Prism.

Paul Booth, MD, Global Research Partners

* Celtel Kenya posted its first-ever profit, with revenue up 15%.
* The Cameroon government has asked for proposals for the sale of 51% of Camtel, the Cameroon national telecommunications incumbent.
* The Algerian second national operator, run by Orascom Telecom and Telecom Egypt, started operations last week.
* The Kenyan government sold a 34% stake in Telkom Kenya to the public and a 26% stake to a strategic investor.
* Microsoft appointed Cheick Diarra as its Africa chairman.

* Sony sold a majority stake in its retail operations to Nikko Principal Investments Japan.
* Negative result warnings from Belgacom, Google, Intel and Vodafone.
* A job loss announcement from Cable & Wireless.
* A planned IPO on Nasdaq by Synchronoss Technologies, a clearinghouse services provider for telecommunications companies.
* A good IPO on London`s AIM by AdEPT Telecom.
* Satisfactory IPOs on London`s AIM by Excapsa Software and Mobile Streams.

* The potential privatisation of 724 Solutions.
* The potential sell-off of Telefonica`s 60% stake in TPI, its directories unit, a deal that could raise up to EUR1.9 billion.
* The potential sell-off of the Greek government`s 38% stake in OTE.
* Vodafone`s sale of part of its stake in its Japanese operation to SoftBank.
* Tata`s possible buyout of its partner`s share in Idea Cellular.

* Worldwide external disk storage systems factory revenue grew 17.9% in Q405 to $4.7 billion, says IDC. For Q405, the total disk storage market grew 13.1% to $6.8 billion.

* JSE All share index: Down 1%
* Nasdaq: Up 0.7%
* Top SA share movements: Dynamic Cable (+7.5%), I-Solutions (-29.4%), Idion (-8%), Infowave (+7.7%), ISA (-11.1%), Jasco (+14.3%), Pinnacle (+16.7%), Prism (+9.5%), Stella Vista (-18.7%) and Zaptronix (+10%).
* Top international share movements: Avanex (+51.8%), Bitstream (+36.1%), Broadvision (+26.4%), CellStar (+71.6%), Daisytek International (+25%), Digital Lightwave (+28.3%), Finisar (+43.2%), Proxim (+25%), RadView (+31.6%) and SONICblue (+200%).

Following an announcement from Net 1 UEPS late on Friday evening, it seems the battle is on for the control of Prism.