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Technology Stocks : ACTM $100 Million Cable Modem Contract with MOT -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Rob Preuss who wrote (1040)	7/16/1999 12:21:00 PM
From: Rob Preuss	Respond to of 1250

Northern Ireland offers excellent value for midtier CEMs -- Low-cost base, freight, comm services are key CMP Publications Monday, July 05, 1999 1:00AM Darrell Dunn The British Isles, particularly Northern Ireland, have emerged as a key region for midtier CEMs seeking to expand into Europe and internationally. But, these companies have not achieved the critical business mass necessary to create major low-cost manufacturing operations in Central or Eastern Europe, as have their larger competitors. Midtier companies that have set up shop in the British Isles include ACT Manufacturing Inc., Electro Mechanical Solutions (EMS), and SMTEK International Inc.. SMTEK, Thousand Oaks, Calif., merged in 1996 with DDL Electronics, which has a printed-circuit-board assembly operation in Lurgan, Northern Ireland, and a bare-PC-board manufacturing plant in nearby Craigavon, Northern Ireland. SMTEK recently announced a $9 million expansion of the Lurgan plant, which includes $5.8 million in capital expenditures during the next two years to increase surface-mount production and $3 million in working capital. "We've found that Northern Ireland has the right connections," said Gregory L. Horton, chief executive of SMTEK. "Its advanced telecommunications and excellent air- and sea-freight services help us provide the rapid response our customers in Europe and the United States require." Hudson, Mass.-based ACT, which is attempting to acquire CMC Industries Inc., Santa Clara, Calif., has a manufacturing plant in Dublin that the company believes will match up well in terms of capabilities with CMC's manufacturing plants in Hermosillo, Mexico; Corinth, Miss.; and Santa Clara. EMS, which merged with RSP Manufacturing Corp. late last year, has manufacturing plants in Lisburn, Northern Ireland, and Worcester, England. The 180,000-square-foot Lisburn plant, which EMS acquired in 1997 from Bmac Co., an indigenous CEM, is expected to be expanded in the near future and serve as EMS' European headquarters. The plant completes a full range of assembly operations. EMS' 25,000-square-foot site in Worcester is dedicated to sheet-metal services. The Northern Ireland government has put major emphasis on attracting midtier CEMs. "We're focusing our efforts on attracting a good cluster of medium-size contract manufacturers," said Ivor Evans, vice president of business development for the Industrial Development Board for Northern Ireland, which is based in San Jose. "Our cost base is significantly lower than the Republic of Ireland or Scotland, primarily because the cost of living is lower," he said. "We feel it's an ideal market for the $100 million to $500 million contract manufacturers doing business in the U.S. and planning to expand into Europe." Copyright (c) 1999 CMP Media Inc. By Darrell Dunn

To: Rob Preuss who wrote (1040)	7/16/1999 12:30:00 PM
From: Rob Preuss	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1250

Zack's consensus EPS estimates: Current Fiscal Year (12/99): $0.98 Next Fiscal Year (12/00): $1.27 Current Quarter ( 6/99): $0.23 Last Quarter ( 3/99): $0.20 (actual) Source: www1.zacks.com Remarks: We've been showing a good upward trend during the past few weeks. I expect this to continue as we approach the special meeting(s) on the merger later this month and as we near the quarterly earnings release in early August. If we continue to hit EPS targets (such as those above), we should easily move into the mid-20's before year-end. Rob