Page URL: nationalpost.com
Tuesday, January 04, 2000
JDS profits from third stock split
Soros an investor
Peter Kuitenbrouwer
Financial Post
JDS Uniphase Corp., the fibre-optics equipment giant based in San Jose, Calif., and Nepean, Ont., announced its third stock split in six months yesterday, as investors continued their love affair with a company billed as
part of the "backbone" of the Internet.
The news comes less than a week after the company's most recent stock split, on Dec. 29.
Its soaring share price has pushed JDS Uniphase to the number 12 position in the Toronto Stock Exchange 300 index, which measures the performance of the largest TSE stocks.
The climb in the shares has been incredible. Founded in 1981, JDS FITEL Inc. went public in 1996, and had a market capitalization by the end of that year of just $104-million. Last July, JDS merged with Uniphase. The
combined companies, trading in both countries, have a capitalization of $63.7-billion (US).
JDS Uniphase's weighting in the TSE 300 index surpasses the weighting of the national railway and any of Canada's oil or mining giants.
"We're blessed by being in a market that is growing very, very quickly, explosively, in fact," Tony Muller, the chief financial officer, said in San Jose yesterday.
Indeed, George Soros' flagship Quantum hedge fund is having its best year since 1995, boosted by a third-quarter move into technology stocks, including JDS, which rose 180% in the fourth quarter.
JDS Uniphase said yesterday it will seek a special meeting of shareholders on Feb. 25 to approve the split, barely two months after shareholders approved the previous split, on Dec. 16.
The company will also ask shareholders to approve an increase in authorized capital to three billion shares.
Currently JDS Uniphase has 345 million shares issued and outstanding, Mr. Muller said.
He noted that between July and December the company announced six acquisitions and two stock splits, and wants legroom for more activity in the coming years without needing continuous approval to issue more
shares.
"This is so the board has more shares available for corporate purposes," said Mr. Muller. "We will use it for mergers and acquisitions, for stock splits, for financings."
Asked whether a financing was planned, Mr. Muller said, "We have a lot of money in the bank right now." |
