Telecoms takes the spotlight

Other than the flood of quarterly results, the international world of IT and telecommunications was very quiet last week.

Mthobi Tyamzashe was appointed as Vodacom`s new corporate affairs group executive.

Paul Booth, MD, Global Research Partners

At home, Telkom`s imminent initial public offering (IPO), the fall-out from the consultant`s report re the bidders for a stake in the second national telecoms operator (SNO) and the IEC tender requirements stole much of the local ICT headline space.

* Mustek made a good debut on the Taiwanese Stock Exchange; and
* Streamworks de-listed at long last.

[Local]

Other local news included:

* the uproar caused by the IEC tender requirements for next year`s elections;
* a good initial public response to the Telkom SA IPO;
* a significant public reaction following a negative consultant report on the bidders for a stake in the SNO, which could lead to a management partner such as British Telecom or Deutsche Telekom being appointed;
* Ronnie Price sold off his 25%+ stake in ERP.com; and
* Mthobi Tyamzashe was appointed as Vodacom`s new corporate affairs group executive.

* eConnect Holdings changed its name to eYCashNetworks.

[International]

Other international news included:

* the appointments of Michael Caplan as CEO of E*Trade Group, Robert Dalal as acting CEO of Space Imaging, Akinobu Kanasugi as president of NEC, Howard Lance as president and CEO of Harris, David Lemont as president and CEO of AppIQ, Royce Murphy as CEO of Nexagent, Geoff Thompson as president and CEO of Control-F1, and Jeff Tonkel as president and CEO of Infravio;
* the resignations of Christos Cotsakos as chairman and CEO of E*Trade Group, John Copple as CEO of Space Imaging, Morgan Guenther as president of TiVo, Charlie Muirhead as CEO of Nexagent (remains as president), Henry Nicholas as president and CEO of Broadcom, Koji Nishigaki as president of NEC, and Graham Wallace as CEO of Cable & Wireless;
* the retirement of Phillip Farmer as president and CEO of Harris (remains as chairman); and
* job loss announcements from Misys and Siemens.

We saw excellent* figures from Excel Technology (back in the black), Integrated Circuit Systems, NetScreen Technologies (back in the black), Silicon Labs, Sohu.com (back in the black) and UTStarcom.

Good numbers* were recorded by ACS, Acxiom, Amdocs, Aspect Comms (back in the black), CACI, ChoicePoint, Consolidated Graphics, CyberGuard, Emulex, Fair, Isaac and Company, First Data, Fiserv, Logitech, Hutchinson Technology, II-IV, Lexmark, Macromedia (back in the black), Magma Design Automation (back in the black), Mercury Interactive, Microchip Technology, Mobius Management Systems (back in the black), Monolithic Systems Technology, National Instruments, Open Text, Packeteer (back in the black), Peak International (back in the black), Pinnacle Systems (back in the black), Pixelworks (back in the black), Power Integrations, Precise Software Solutions, Qualcomm, Quality Systems, ScanSource, Security Computing, STMicroelectronics, Tier Technologies and Western Digital.

Satisfactory* figures were posted by 3M, Activision, Adtran, ADP, Altera (back in the black), Bisys, BMC Software (back in the black), Cabot Microelectronics, Cass Information Systems, CDW Computer Centers, Ceridian, Certegy, Citrix Systems, Comshare (back in the black), Eastman Kodak (back in the black), ECTel, Electronics For Imaging, Embarcadero (back in the black), Equifax, Global Imaging Systems, Hummingbird (back in the black), InfoUSA, Informatica (back in the black), Maxtor (back in the black), McData (back in the black), Misys, Motorola (back in the black), Navarre, Network Associates (back in the black), Nokia, PeopleSoft, Photo Control, Siemens, Snap-on, StorageTek, Technitrol (back in the black), Unisys (back in the black), Varian, Verisity and VitalWorks (back in the black).

Mediocre* returns came from ADS Financial Services (but back in the black), Amazon, AMX, AT&T (but back in the black), Cadence Design Systems, CanWest, Check Point Software, Compuware, Concord Comms, Convergys, DSP Group, Echelon, F5 Networks (back in the black), Inforte, InterTAN, ITG, JDA Software, KLA-Tencor, LAM Research (but back in the black), Lightbridge, Made2Manage Systems, Moldflow, MRO Software, NCR, Optical Cable (back in the black), Overland Storage, Polycom (back in the black), SanDisk, Satyam, SK Telecom, Synaptics, Tollgrade Comms, Varian Semiconductor, Westell Technologies (back in the black) and Zamba Solutions.

Very poor results* were reported by Catapult Comms, Datawatch and Skyworks Solutions (but back in the black). .

Losses* came from 724 Solutions, Actel, Adaptec, Adept Technology, Advent Software, Agere Systems, Applied Micro Circuits, Ariba, Artisoft, AsiaInfo, Ask Jeeves, ATG, Atmel, Avaya, Avistar Comms, Avnet, AVX, Axcelis, Blue Martini Software, Brio Software, Broadcom, BroadVision, Brooks-PRI Automation, Cadmus Comms, California Micro Devices, Carrier Access, Cirrus Logic, Click Commerce, Computer Associates, Concurrent Computer, Conexant Systems, Corning, CyberSource, Cypress Semiconductor, Digital Impact, DoubleClick, E.piphany, EMC, Entrust, Extended Systems, Flextronics, FreeMarkets, Genesis Microchip, Hifn, Identix, IDT, ILOG SA, iManage, Infineon, InfoVista, International Rectifier, Internet Security Systems, Iona, JDS Uniphase, Kemet, Keynote Systems, Kulicke & Soffa, Lattice Semiconductor, LogicVision, LSI Logic, Lucent Technologies, M-Systems, MapInfo, MatrixOne, Micro Linear, Micromuse, Microsemi, N2H2, Netopia, Nortel Networks, Novadigm, Oak Technology, Openwave Systems, Oplink Comms, Pericom Semiconductor, Pervasive Software, Phoenix Technologies, PhotoWorks, Pivotal, Plexus, PLX Technology, PMC-Sierra, Rainmaker, Raytheon, RF Micro Devices, Roxio, RSA Security, Sanmina-SCI, Schlumberger AG, Sento, Siebel Systems, Silicom, Silicon Graphics, Silicon Storage Technology, Sirenza Microdevices, SkillSoft, Sonus Networks, SteelCloud, Stellent, Stratex Networks, SupportSoft, Tarantella, Teletouch Comms, Tellabs, Texas Instruments, Trident Microsystems, Tumbleweed Comms, Turnstone Systems, VeriSign, Vignette, WebMethods, Witness Systems, Xicor and Xilinx.

Other financial news included share buy-back announcements from Concur Technologies, Cybertel Comms, FreeMarkets, Inet Technologies, MatrixOne, Matsushita Electric, SK Telecom, Take-Two Interactive Software, Talk America and Tollgrade Comms.

There were profit warnings from ACT Teleconferencing, ADP, Altera, AT&T, Brady, California Amplifier, Hytek, ITG, Lexmark, LSI Logic, Moldflow, NCR, Network Associates, Nokia, STMicroelectronics, Verisity and Vishay Intertechnology; and share split announcements from Canterbury Consulting Group (reverse) and ORBIT/FR (reverse).

Additionally, the USA federal investigators have subpoenaed various licence information and other documents from Computer Associates as part of their probe into the company; and the SEC seems set to file civil fraud charges against KPMG LLP for its auditing role at Xerox.

Telecoms takes the spotlight Stock movements

Locally

Acuity (-80%)
CompuClearing (-14.3%)
Connection Group (-13.5%)
Digicor (-14.3%)
Elexir (+20%)
ERP.com (+15%)
Idion (+23%)
Maxtec (+60%)
Prism (-27.8%)
Y3K (-66.7%)

Internationally

Adept Technology (-31.4%)
Arel Comms & Software (+26.9%)
Caminus (+248.8%)
DA Consulting Group (+47.1%)
Exabyte (-28.1%)
Getronics NV (-38.2%)
Internet America (+30.8%)
Internet Security Systems (-31.8%)
JDA Software (+29.6%)
Openwave (-28.4%)

* 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.