Silicon Graphics files for bankruptcy protection

Apart from the Silicon Graphics news, the international ICT world was quiet last week. From a local ICT perspective, there was no single dominant story apart from Telkom SA`s withdrawal from the bid for Portugal Telecom.

* Silicon Graphics, a maker of high-performance computers, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

* Good interim numbers from Paracon, with revenue up 28% and attributable profit up 43%.
* Good full-year numbers from Altron, with revenue up 14% and profit up 26%.
* Good interim figures from Dimension Data, with revenue up over 15% and profit more than double.
* Good quarterly numbers from Net 1 UEPS, with revenue up nearly 20% and profit up over 38%.
* Positive trading updates from Datatec, ISA and Telkom SA.
* Paracon acquired 34.6% of Nihilent Technologies, matching the shareholding already held by Dimension Data. The acquired shares were held by Nedcor, and this disposal represents another part of the latter`s exit strategy from the ICT world. There is little ICT interest now left in the Nedcor portfolio compared to 18 months ago.
* Tactical Software Systems (TSS) became an investor (25.1%) in UCS Group through the latter`s purchase of 100% of Quadrant Consulting and 60% of TSS Managed Services.
* Telkom SA pulled out of the Portugal Telecom bid.

* Eleven candidates have presented bids for Egypt`s third mobile licence, with an expected shortlist scheduled to be announced by the end of June. Kuwait`s MTC (the owner of Celtel) and MTN are among the bidders, both in conjunction with an Egyptian partner.
* The Nigerian privatisation agency has adopted a new strategy for the disposal of Nitel following two aborted auction attempts. Under the new process, Orascom, and five other companies shortlisted previously, will be requested to participate in a new round of bidding. Telkom SA was originally one of the above suitors.
* The suspension of the telecommunications regulator in Benin.
* Good quarterly results from Celtel`s Holding company MTC (Kuwait).

There is little ICT interest now left in the Nedcor portfolio compared to 18 months ago.

Paul Booth, MD, Global Research Partners

* EMC bought Kashya, a provider of data replication and data protection software; and Interlink Group, a Microsoft-focused services supplier.
* Robotic Technology Systems to split into two by hiving off its nuclear power consultancy unit into a separate company.
* The appointments of Paul Carmen as president of Computhink, Fred Fromm as president and CEO of nexVortex, James Keyes as chairman of LSI Logic, Martin Lippert as CEO of MACH, Richard Ruben as CEO of XOS Technologies, and Ying Wu as CEO of UTStarcom.
* The resignations of Daniel Diez as co-founder of Esmertec AG, Beat Heeb as co-founder of Esmertec AG, Brian Keane as president and CEO of Keane, and Hong Lu as chairman and CEO of UTStarcom.
* Analyst upgrades for Analog Devices, ARM Holdings, Aspen Technology, Baidu.com, Broadcom, Diodes, Entegris, Intel, Marvell, Netflix, SanDisk, Symantec and Volterra Semiconductor.
* Analyst downgrades for Applied Materials, ASML, Asyst Technologies, Daktronics, Dell, Ikanos Communications Infineon, Lam Research, Mpower Holding, Philips Electronics, Sapient, Teradyne and ViaSat.
* A positive results announcement from Ditech Communications.
* Negative result warnings from Dell, Printronix and Transmeta.
* Stock repurchase announcements from Digital Insight, FEI, Intersil, Matsushita Electric, NMS Communications and Open Text.
* Job loss announcements from AOL and Ntl.
* Private funding obtained for DreamFactory, a provider of adaptive on-demand applications; XCome Technology, a mobile messaging application developer; and xTech, an information services company.
* A rights offering by SkyTerra Communications.
* Stock offering announcements by Cogent Communications, Global Crossing, Integral Technologies, Leaf Wireless International, Microvision and Redback Networks.
* Share split announcements from Brightpoint (6:5), Canon (1.5:1), Logitech International (2:1) and Savvis (reverse 15:1).
* Planned IPOs in New York from ClearWire, a wireless broadband operator; Divx, a video compression technology developer; Mitel Networks, a VOIP equipment provider; and Qimenda AG, Infineon Technologies AG`s memory chip unit.
* An IPO filing from Brazil`s Telemar Participacoes SA.
* A planned IPO on London`s AIM by Wire One Holdings, a video and conferencing services provider.

* A possible spin-off of Intel`s memory chip unit.
* A possible private equity buy-out of Thomson SA.

* The worldwide optical networking market will increase at a 12% compound annual growth rate, rising from $7.9 billion in 2005 to over $13.9 billion in 2010, says IDC.
* Eastman Kodak has lost its market share lead in digital camera sales in the US to Canon, with Sony at number two, according to IDC.

* JSE All share index: Down 0.2%
* Nasdaq: Down 4.2%
* Top SA share movements: Alliance Data (+11.1%), Datacentrix (-18.7%), ERP.com (-13.2%), ISA (+11.1%), Labat Africa (+9.1%), MTN (-13.2%), Square One (-11.1%), Stella Vista (+25%), Synergy (+66.7%) and Vesta (-22.2%)
* Top international share movements: ANCC (+27.6%), Asyst Technologies (-32.4%), BITS (-20.1%), Com21 (-25%), enherent (-20.7%), Exabyte (-23.1%), Glenayre Technologies (-45.7%), Nuance Communications (-20.2%), Silicon Graphics (-81.9%) and Transmeta (-37.7%)

The latest edition of The Africa Report contains its latest Top 500 rankings, done by turnover. There are no IT companies outside SA in the list, although several African telecommunications companies are present with the highest ranking one being Maroc Telecom at 37.

Overall, the highest ranked ICT company is Telkom SA at eight, the same rating as last year.