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To: Glenn D. Rudolph who wrote (83634)	11/9/1999 8:40:00 AM
From: H James Morris	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 164684

<<Bentonville, Arkansas, Nov. 9 (Bloomberg) -- Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's biggest retailer, said fiscal third-quarter profit rose 29 percent on increased U.S. and international sales. Net income rose to $1.30 billion, or 29 cents a share, from $1.01 billion, or a split-adjusted 22 cents, a year ago. Sales in the three months ended Oct. 31 rose 21 percent to $40.4 billion from $33.5 billion. Low prices on brand-name goods, promotions for Halloween and back-to-school merchandise and expanded grocery aisles helped draw shoppers to Wal-Mart's 2,485 U.S. stores. Now, the company is implementing its low-price strategy overseas. It cut prices on more than 2,000 goods at its newly acquired British supermarket chain, Asda Group Plc, setting off a discount war in the U.K. ``The company's focus now is international,' said Argus Research analyst Alan Mak, who has a ``buy' rating on Wal-Mart shares. ``Everyone knows they can execute domestically. Now the question is whether they can duplicate the success overseas.' Wal-Mart, which at the quarter's end had more than 980 stores outside the U.S., said last month that its international division will open or relocate as many as 100 stores next year in countries where it already operates. The company, based in Bentonville, Arkansas, has locations in the U.K. and Germany, Canada and Mexico, Brazil and Argentina, and China and Korea. In the U.S., the company had 1,803 Wal-Mart stores, 682 supercenters, which include full grocery departments, and 456 Sam's Club wholesale warehouses as of Oct. 31. Wal-Mart shares rose 7/16 to 58 1/2 yesterday after touching a 52-week high of 59 3/16. The stock has gained 44 percent so far this year, the third-biggest increase in the Dow Jones Industrial Average behind Citigroup Inc. and Alcoa Inc. Nov/09/1999 8:24 >>

To: Glenn D. Rudolph who wrote (83634)	11/9/1999 8:47:00 AM
From: H James Morris	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 164684

<<St. Louis, Nov. 8 (Bloomberg) -- Charter Communications Inc., the cable-TV operator founded by billionaire Paul Allen, raised $3.23 billion in an initial stock sale, and is expected to begin trading tomorrow. Charter, the nation's fourth-largest cable operator based on pending acquisitions, sold 170 million shares at $19 each, giving the company a market value of $3.23 billion. Goldman Sachs Group Inc., the investment bank that led the sale, initially set the expected price between $17 and $19. Allen, the 46-year-old bachelor who co-founded Microsoft Corp. with Bill Gates, is turning to the public markets to pay down debt and finance part of the $13 billion in cable acquisitions Charter has announced this year. Investors are betting on Allen's vision of a future where cable lines will be the pipeline into homes and businesses for new communications services like interactive TV and high-speed Internet access. ``The perception by the public is that Paul Allen is smart money, and people are taking it as a sign of assurance that there's some serious upside to this deal,' said Ben Holmes, president of ipoPros.com, a Boulder, Colorado-based research firm that specializes in initial public offerings. Allen, who said he'd also make a $750 million investment in the company along with the investors, will retain majority control through his Class B shares, which have more voting power than the Class A shares the company is putting on the market. Cable Like Charter, the nation's other big operators, such as AT&T Corp., Cablevision Systems Corp. and Cox Communications Inc., have been acquiring cable systems at a furious pace this year in an effort to build up large regional groupings of networks. They believe a strong regional presence is essential to marketing and delivering new services from digital cable to telephone service more efficiently. Some analysts said the Charter offering could set the stage for new round of the kind of large acquisitions that have characterized the cable industry this year. ``Within 12 to 18 months, Charter could potentially make a run at a larger cable company including Adelphia or Comcast,' CIBC World Markets analyst Aryeh Bourkoff said,' referring to Comcast Corp. and Adelphia Communications Corp. ``But that's clearly predicated on an increase in Charter's market value.' Charter will have 6.2 million customers when it completes the pending acquisitions, the registration statement said. Assuming these transactions had been completed last year, pro forma revenue for 1998 would have been $2.7 billion. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization -- a common measure of performance in the cable industry -- would have equaled $1.2 billion. In the first quarter, adjusted for pending acquisitions, Charter had a loss of $192 million on revenue of $380 million, according to tables in its prospectus. For 1998, adjusted for pending purchases, the loss was $791 million on revenue of $1.4 billion, according to the tables. Underwriters for the Charter IPO included<b. Goldman, Sachs & Co.; Bear, Stearns & Co.; and Morgan Stanley Dean Witter. Other underwriters are Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette; Merrill Lynch & Co.; Salomon Smith Barney; A.G. Edwards & Sons Inc.; and M.R. Beal & Co. The shares will trade under the ticker CHTR on the Nasdaq stock exchange. Nov/08/1999 19:08>>