Thread, from Questor column Daily Telegraph:
Baltimore fair for white-knuckle ride
BALTIMORE Technologies - one of Questor's tips of last year - is the kind of company everybody wishes they invested in. Six months ago you could have picked up a share for around œ10. At today's close they were worth œ114, bringing cheer to many Dublin citzens,according to Fran Rooney, the chief executive officer of the Irish firm.
The company specialises in the arcane business of internet security software,based on highly complex mathematics. The end result is software that should reduce the possibility of on-line fraud. This is a big headache for credit card companies and retailers, although interestingly less so for consumers who continue to bandy around their financial details over the web willy-nilly.
Baltimore is probably one of only two companies in the world who have any serious security software in the market (the other is Nasdaq quoted Entrust). That realisation has sent the stock price to eyepopping levels, valuing the firm at over œ4.6 billion, which could take it straight into the FTSE-100 in March.
Results for 1999, announced yesterday, showed the company demonstrate impressive growth with turnover up 28pc to œ23.2m. Losses deepened to œ31.4m as the company invested in extending global operations and beefing up sales and marketing. Investors have probably been advised again and again to take profits but there are reasons to hold on. Entry into the FTSE 100, if it happens, would provide a boost as tracker stocks pile in.
More important, the company has designed a range of security products suitable to secure internet access over mobile phones, which is just starting to take off in Britain with the Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) standard. A whole new market opens up, leading analysts to suggest shares could be worth as much as œ170. The shares are pricey, but there is still no sign of them losing their momentum. |
