Telkom lists, Savant launches

The record loss by France Telecom and the $1 billion lawsuit lodged by the SCO Group against IBM dominated the international world of IT and telecommunications last week.

Newly listed Telkom SA has replaced Dimension Data in the JSE`s top 40 index.

Paul Booth, MD, Global Research Partners

At home, Telkom`s listing on the Johannesburg and New York stock exchanges, and the launch of the Department of Trade and Industry`s Savant project stole much of the local ICT headline space.

* we saw a full-year loss from Idion (but revenue up);

* excellent interim numbers from Psitek (part of Venfin, only headline earnings figure available);

* very good half-year numbers from Venfin (revenue well up and back in the black);

* good interim numbers from CompuClearing (revenue and earnings both up) and Vodacom (part of Venfin, only headline earnings figure available);

* mediocre half-year figures from Grintek (revenue up a bit but earnings well down) and Tracker (part of Venfin, only headline earnings figure available);

* interim losses from Faritec (revenue also down) and Intervid (although revenue significantly up);

* the JSE`s warning notice that it is annotating Vesta`s company listing for failure to submit its annual financial statements timeously; and

* profit warnings from Datatec, Dimension Data and DNA.

Other local news included:

* Telkom`s initial public offering (IPO) at R28, well below the originally expected listing level;

* the appointments of Jane Mosebi as MD of Forge Ahead BMI-TechKnowledge, Don Ncube as non-executive chairman of Real Africa Holdings (was executive chairman), and Simon White as chairman of Forge Ahead BMI-TechKnowledge;

* the E-mail Corporation changed its name to Striata;

* Telkom SA warned of substantial job cuts over the coming months/years;

* Super Group Trading offered to acquire DNA`s core operations, which if successful, would mean the de-listing of DNA, and the closure and liquidation of any remaining businesses;

* Kenya-based ICDC Investment approached MTN Group with a view to it leading a consortium for a stake in Kenya`s second-largest cellular operator, Kencell; and

* the announcement that there will be no Computer Faire in Cape Town this year.

New local distributorships included Tarsus Technologies for Acer in SA and Jet Distribution for Acer in the rest of Africa.

Additionally, newly listed Telkom SA has replaced Dimension Data in the JSE`s top 40 index, while the latter has moved down into the Mid Cap index, where it replaces Datatec, which is now added to the Small Cap index.

* Thrunet, Korea`s third largest broadband service provider, filed for bankruptcy;

* Softbank is selling part of its stake in Yahoo Japan, thus reducing its shareholding to 42%;

* Accenture appointed several CEOs who will head-up its various operating groups;

* Motorola sold off part of its stake in Nextel Comms, raising $250 million;

* France Telecom posted the biggest loss in French history (over EUR20 billion);

* a poor response to the Taiwanese government`s selling of shares in Chunghwa Telecom;

* the filing of a $1 billion lawsuit against IBM by the SCO Group re Unix/Linux; and

* the closure of Red Herring magazine.

Additionally, look out for:

* a possible IPO from LG Philips LCD, the joint venture between Philips and LG and the world`s largest maker of LCDs;

* Deutsche Telekom selling its shares in Russian mobile phone operator, MTS;

* the results of the discussions between UK-based Knowledge Support Systems and a potential bidder;

* Swisscom`s acquisition of a stake in Telekom Austria;

* a buyer for StorageNetworks;

* a possible take-over of Click Commerce by Insight Venture Management; and

* the fate of Getronics NV, the Dutch-based company teetering on the brink of bankruptcy.

Other international news included:

* the appointments of Anthony Bettencourt as president and CEO of Verity, Timothy Chrisman as chairman of MCSi, Mark Cresswell as president and COO of Neon Systems, Jerry Daniels as CEO of Engineered Support Systems, Mark Ellis as CEO of InDigiNet, Tim Russell as president and CEO of Datakey, Talal Shamoon as CEO of InterTrust Technologies, Joseph Simrell as chairman of Primal Solutions, Bobby Yazdani as president and COO of Saba, and Marc Zandman as vice-chairman of Vishay Intertechnology;

* the resignations of Carl Boecher as president and CEO of Datakey, Gary Sbona as president and CEO of Verity (remains as chairman) and Louis Woodhill as president and CEO of Neon Systems; and

* job loss announcements from Auspex Systems, BMC, Groove Networks, Hynix Semiconductor, LogicaCMG, Neon Systems and PanAmSat.

We saw excellent* figures from Attunity (back in the black), Golden Telecom (back in the black) and VerticalNet (back in the black); and very good* numbers from Eidos (back in the black), Evolving Systems (back in the black), ManTech International (back in the black) and STET Hellas Telecomms SA.

Good figures* were recorded by Comms Systems, DataMirror (back in the black) and Wanadoo (back in the black); and satisfactory* ones by Dobson Comms (back in the black), EFJ, Navtech, OfficeMax (back in the black), Portugal Telecom and QAD.

Mediocre* returns came from Allin, C&D Technologies, Geac Computer, Scan-Optics (but back in the black) and Wallace (but back in the black); while very poor results* came from KPN NV (but back in the black).

Losses* were posted by Alamosa, Allegiance Telecom, Arel, ASAT Holdings, Butler International, Commtouch, Convera, Crystal Systems Solutions, EchoStar, Electronic Tele-Comms, Equant, Equinix, Financial Objects, France Telecom, Getronics, Gruppo Formula SpA, InterCept, Madison River Comms, Manchester Technologies, Marlborough Stirling, Micro Component Technology, Modem Media, National Semiconductor, NeoMedia Technologies, Orange, Psion, Rare Medium Group, SeaChange, Speedcom, Symbian, T/R Systems, TiVo, Transact Technologies, Tricom, Versata Software, Versatel, WorldGate Comms and Z-Tel.

Other financial news included share buy-back announcements from Gateway, Harte-Hanks, Hellenic Telecomms Organisation SA and Samsung; results/profit warnings from 3Com, Alliance Imaging, C&D Technologies, Gateway, InterTAN, Kaz Computer, LogicaCMG, Marlborough Stirling and Palm; a share split announcement from Cognizant Technology; and an IPO expected later this year from AOL for its cable assets. Additionally, Ntelos has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

Locally

AST (-20%)
Control (-16.8%)
Digicore (+13.6%)
Dimension Data (-26.8%)
DNA (-24.1%)
Elexir (-20%)
IST (-12.8%)
Maxtec (-60%)
Spescom (-15.1%)
Stella Vista (-75%)

Internationally

Butler International (-25.5%)
Daisytek (-42.8%)
Focal Comms (+30%)
Getronics (+31.6%)
Gilat (-25.6%)
Lawson Software (-29.1%)
Ntelos (-62.5%)
PCD (-42.9%)
Rural Cellular (-25.2%)
Salem Comms (-27.8%)

Fortune Magazine has published its latest Most Admired Companies listings. From a technology perspective in the top 50, Microsoft stayed at number three, Dell rose to number four from 23, IBM came in at eighth, Sony rose to 13 from 28, and Intel dropped to 15 from nine.

* 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.