Thanks, Jochen.
Here's some more on the same topic, involving some others in the energy business:
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Alliant, Other Energy Companies in Telecom Rise (Update1)
(Adds analysts raise Enron price targets in sixth, seventh
paragraphs, analyst comment in 14th paragraph, Dominion rises in
last paragraph.)
Madison, Wisconsin, Jan. 21 (Bloomberg) -- Energy companies
that are investing in telecommunications and the Internet rose,
led by Alliant Energy Corp., as investors bet that the fast-
growing businesses will boost earnings.
Alliant, a utility owner that has a minority stake in a
midwestern phone company, rose 3 5/16 to 33 13/16 in late trading
after reaching 34 3/4. Montana Power Co., that state's largest
utility, rose 4 9/16 to 43 3/8. Williams Cos., which owns natural-
gas pipelines, rose 7/8 to 38 7/8. Montana Power and Williams are
both building fiber-optic networks.
The shares are reacting to yesterday's news about the
telecommunications and Internet businesses of Avista Corp. and
Enron Corp., analysts said. Enron shares rose 26 percent yesterday
and soared today after the world's largest energy trader said it
plans to buy and sell space on fiber-optic telecom networks in an
alliance with Sun Microsystems Inc.
''Enron and their announcement yesterday is shining the
spotlight on some of other energy companies that are developing
communications strategies,'' said Zach Wagner, an analyst at
Edward Jones.
Houston-based Enron's shares rose 4 11/16 to 72 in late
trading after touching 73 1/16. Edward Tirello, an analyst at
Deutsche Banc Alex Brown, raised his 12-month price target on
Enron to $90 from $55. Schroder & Co. analyst Raymond Niles raised
his 12-month target to $100 from $75.
Niles, who last week raised his target price on Enron shares
to $75 from $60, said then that trading bandwidth could ultimately
be as profitable as Enron's electricity and gas trading combined.
Avista
Avista shares rose 30 percent yesterday and rose another 40
percent today in late trading. Yesterday, an investment vehicle
for Microsoft Corp. Chairman Bill Gates reported that it's holding
a 5 percent stake in the utility owner, which also develops fuel
cells and has an online-billing unit.
''As people saw Avista's (price) run, their next question
was, who's the next company that could enjoy that,'' said David
Parker, an analyst at Robert W. Baird & Co. ''Investors are trying
to find other ways to invest in the Internet explosion.''
Many electric and gas companies are expanding into new
businesses such as telecommunications because they offer the
potential for higher growth than their utilities, which usually
provide slower-growing but steady earnings.
Madison, Wisconsin-based Alliant owns utilities in four
midwestern states. It also owns about 19 million shares of
McLeodUSA Inc., a telephone company that sells paging,
teleconferencing and Internet access.
McLeodUSA agreed this month to buy network operator Splitrock
Services Inc. for $2.1 billion in stock and debt. Its shares have
risen more than 50 percent since the Splitrock announcement.
Alliant's shares in McLeodUSA are now valued at about $1.5
billion.
Montana Power
''McLeod's paid off for us very well,'' said David Giroux, an
Alliant spokesman. ''It's something that distinguishes us pretty
clearly from other utility companies who may talk about
diversification, but lack the resources to do it.''
Montana Power's Touch America unit has been building a
nationwide fiber-optic network and selling space on the lines to
phone, Internet and cable companies. Montana Power plans to decide
at a Tuesday board meeting whether to sell shares or spin off the
unit.
''People want to get in on Montana Power now because an IPO
announcement is expected Tuesday,'' said Daniel Tulis, an analyst
at Banc of America Securities.
Butte, Montana-based Montana Power has 285,400 power and
148,000 natural-gas customers in western Montana. TouchAmerica has
a 15,000-mile fiber-optic network linking much of the U.S. West
and Midwest and plans to complete construction on 23,000 miles in
about three years.
Tulsa, Oklahoma-based Williams owns 27,000 miles of
interstate gas pipelines and 86 percent of Williams Communications
Group, which is developing a 33,000-mile U.S fiber-optic network
to carry voice, data and video images.
In London, shares of Dominion Energy Plc rose 71 percent
after the U.K. oil and natural-gas producer said it may expand
into other businesses, including the Internet. The shares rose 3
pence to 7.25 pence, the second-biggest gainer on the London Stock
Exchange.
NYSE/AMEX delayed 20 min. NASDAQ delayed 15 min.
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