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Pastimes : All Clowns Must Be Destroyed -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: MythMan who wrote (25841)	4/14/2000 8:15:00 AM
From: eddie r gammon	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 42523

I got a feeling it will not be a pretty day today. They were trying to prop up the NAZ futures until about an hour ago and they took a quick nosedive. They are back + now but if the dam breaks I don't think the PPT can plug the hole (g) erg

To: MythMan who wrote (25841)	4/14/2000 8:22:00 AM
From: eddie r gammon	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 42523

I think we will see a lot of this over here also. Note the bold. ====================================================== JOHANNESBURG, April 14 (Reuters) - Datatec, South Africa's second-largest IT company issued a profit warning on Friday, prompting a fresh sell off in the company's battered stock after a 30 percent slump on Thursday. In a statement released to the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, Datatec said profits in the current financial year would be below market expectations, principally because of reduced earnings at its U.S. subsidiary Westcon. Datatec has interests in networking, e-commerce, Internet access provision and IT consulting, with operations in Europe, the United States, Australia and South Africa. ``The fourth quarter profits of Datatec and its subsidiaries have not reached the levels anticipated as a result of a slower than expected rebound in demand for products in the IT sector after the Y2K period,' the statement said. Westcon is experiencing reduced demand for its Lucent (NYSE:LU - news) and Nortel (Toronto:NO.TO - news) product lines. While sales of its Cisco (NasdaqNM:CSCO - news) equipment are up, the increase has not been enough to offset reduced revenues elsewhere, the company said. But it said all divisions remained profitable and that plans for the listing of Westcon -- on Nasdaq -- and its e-commerce group e-Ventures -- in London -- would go ahead, albeit behind schedule. ``As a result of the recent sharp decline in certain of the technology sectors of the world's major stock markets, it is probable that the listings will take place in the second half of the financial year,' the company said. Analysts were relieved to receive the announcement but said it came too late and did little to offset the clear indication that someone in the market knew about the profit concerns before the company issued its statement. Investors were not reassured. Datatec was last trading down 800 cents or 11.7 percent at 60 rand a share in heavy volume. On Thursday it slumped 32 percent to less than half its life high of 146 rand, hit barely six weeks ago. Analysts had forecast Datatec headline earnings to rise 57 percent to 417 cents a share in the year to end-March. Most say it is now next to impossible to forecast the earnings, but one said he expected it to be about 20 percent down from the previous forecast, or about 350 cents a share. Another said it could be as little as 285 cents. FURIOUS THURSDAY AS MARKET CAP SLUMPS BY A THIRD Thursday saw nearly four percent of the company's issued share capital traded as more than four billion rand ($600 million) was wiped off its market capitalisation. Turnover was six times the stock's daily average. The Johannesburg Stock Exchange is investigating the unusual activity and told Reuters on Friday it would hand its findings to the Financial Services Board if it discovered any evidence of insider trading or market manipulation. On Thursday, brokers said they saw block selling of large chunks of Datatec stock by institutions, including one fund in particular. Datatec is widely held in South Africa and is a key component of many funds and unit trusts. One analyst said the company may have done itself irreperable damage by not disclosing sensitive information in a equitable manner. ``You can't sell this thing to anyone anymore, they're just going to laugh at you,' he said. Jonathan Newman, the director of marketing for Datatec South Africa, said Thursday's slump was excessive, but partly the company's fault. ``It was something that is not as significant as it ended up becoming, and that's a function of our not having said something earlier, which is unfortunate,' he told Reuters. While several analysts believe the selling is overdone, the edginess in the market because of the lack of clarity over disclosure and due to global IT jitters is likely to keep up pressure on the stock. ``Given what the share price has done, Datatec might as well set aside some big provisions for restructuring, which they have said they plan to do, and take the big hit in one go,' said an IT specialist with a major brokerage.