Tiscali conquers World Online

The Tiscali SpA acquisition of World Online ($5 billion), the take-over of Intermedia Comms by WorldCom ($6 billion) and the swallowing of Spain`s Ya.com by Deutsche Telekom`s T-Online AG ($500 million) dominated the international world of IT and telecommunications last week.

At home, the flood of domestic results stole much of the local headline space.

• we saw excellent full-year results from CS Holdings (all ratios well up);
• good full-year figures from Grintek (earnings well up, but turnover only slightly up);
• satisfactory full-year numbers from EOH (margins well down);
• very poor year-end numbers from Faritec (second half particularly bad);
• good interim figures from Control Instruments (a loss, however, from IT operations);
• an interim loss from Idion (caused by amortisation of goodwill; otherwise very good numbers); and
• a profit warning from Fintech.
• Additionally, the JSE announced that Cape Empowerment Trust (caused by an application for the liquidation of INTeLLa) and C-Tech have failed to submit their annual financial statement within the stipulated timescales.
• Other non-listed local company results included excellent numbers from business software solutions provider, EmSoft.

[Local]

Other local news included:

• the name change of Ixchange`s Goldmine to Frontrange solutions;
• the appointment of Bill Hoggarth as the new MD of SAS SA;
• the sell-off by Comparex of some 16.5 million Dimension Data shares;
• the opening of a local office by RSA Security;
• the purchase by UK-based Storm Telecom from the liquidators of ITI Technology Holdings` corporate access division;
• the possible incorporation of failed Insys Business Solutions into troubled Planit Technologies; and
• the news that Fintech has had to pay-out R101.9 million for the balance of the shares for the USKO rights offer that was only 53.4% subscribed.
• Additionally, Hewlett-Packard, Microsoft, SAP, Siemens Business Services and TIS have formed a local application service provision partnership.

• the announcement of the name change of Kingston TLI to Kingston MediaStream; and
• the go-ahead by Israel`s government to open up the country`s domestic telecommunications market to full competition, ending the last monopoly held by Bezeq, Israel`s state telecomms company.

[International]

Other international news included:

• the announcement of job losses by China Telecom, Corel, iXL Enterprises, OfficeMax, Qwest Comms International and SCO.

We saw excellent figures from California Amplifier, Flextech Holdings and Staffware.

Losses came from 4Front Technologies, AOL Latin America, CommWorld, Datatec Systems, eOn Comms, eSIM, Harrier Group, InfoVista, Knowledge Management Software, LanVision, Magic Moments Internet, Microgen, Paging Network do Brasil SA, UTG Comms International and VimpelCom.

Hewlett-Packard, Microsoft, SAP, Siemens Business Services and TIS have formed a local application service provision partnership.

Paul Booth, columnist, ITWeb

Good numbers were recorded by France Telecom, GES International, Intec Telecom Systems (back in the black), National Semiconductor, Optical Cable, Stratos Lightwave, Tech Data and Volt Information Sciences; and satisfactory ones by Sema.

Mediocre returns came from Bond International Software, China Unicom, Guardian IT and Workflow Management.

Other financial news included profit warnings from Circuit City, Gadzoox Networks, Invensys, Merisel, Progress Software and Qwest Comms International (merger charge); and an IPO filing from Asia Global Crossing. Additionally, Broadview Networks (voice, data and Internet services) has withdrawn its IPO; and SAP floats its services company, SAP-SI, this week.

Locally

Acuity (+38.9%)
CIH (-33.3%)
Contlan (-50%)
Elexir (+40%)
Hicor (-25.7%)
Idion (+28.6%)
JemTech (-40%)
PTH (+50%)
Y2KTec (-33.3%)
Y3K (-28.6%)

Internationally

Able Telcom (+28.9%)
Bell Microproducts (+48.4%)
ConMat Technologies (-28.1%)
Diamond Technology Partners (30.7%)
Exabyte (+46.8%)
eXcelon (+40.6%)
Globecomm Systems (+34.6%)
LanOptics (+64.5%)
NetObjects (+28.3%)
StarMedia Networks (+31%)
Workflow Management (+37.7%)

This week sees the inclusion of Dimension Data in the FTSE 100 index on the London Stock Exchange; the listing of supply chain logistics provider OneLogix group via a reverse listing into Venmil; and Computer Faire in Cape Town.