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Technology Stocks : PCW - Pacific Century CyberWorks Limited -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: ms.smartest.person who wrote (1472)	6/25/2001 12:27:05 PM
From: ms.smartest.person	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 2248

Telstra regains some ground after week of share price weakness 2001-06-24 Telstra Week ASX Codes: tls By Alan Wood SYDNEY, June 22 AAP - Telstra Corp Ltd shares recovered some ground today after more than a week of downside on the back of a surprise profit warning. Some analysts are now looking at Telstra's solid prospects and expect further share price gains ahead. Analysts said that while there will be some concerns about the stock in the lead-up to a federal election later this year, Telstra remained well positioned given ongoing consolidation in the telecommunications sector. There were some concerns about joint ventures Telstra had in Asia with with partner Pacific Century CyberWorks Ltd, but any negatives from those ventures should not impact too much on Australia's largest telco, analysts said. A flight to quality in the telecommunications sector has already helped the stock off its lows. Telstra was today again among the Australian Stock Exchange's top traded stocks by volume, following the high volume trend since its profit warning on June 12. Telstra closed at $5.61, up 19 cents or 3.5 per cent, with 20.45 million shares worth $113.1 million changing hands. The stock recovered some ground after hitting a three-year intraday low of $5.36 earlier this week. But even at today's price, Telstra shares have fallen some 24.2 per cent from the $7.40 many investors paid for them during the federal government's sale of a second tranche of Telstra shares in 1999. That means that someone who bought a block of shares worth $500, for example, in that sale would now have a parcel worth around $379, a loss of $121. The stock's general weakness followed its profit warning earlier this month, when Telstra said its 2000/01 revenue growth would slow to about three per cent and earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) to approximately five per cent. The figures were well below analysts forecasts. Prior to the warning Telstra shares were trading above $6.70. Telstra itself would not comment on where it saw the share price ahead. But chief executive officer Ziggy Switkowski has said that the outlook is positive beyond the current year, given that there will be one less player in the market following the collapse of the Packer and Murdoch-backed telecommunications venture, One.Tel Ltd. Southern Cross Equities analyst Trevor Cain said his firm had a buy recommendation on Telstra given the current "very attractive" price. "A lot of the profit downgrade has (already) come through (on the share price) which has certainly shocked the market," Mr Cain said. "Given the collapse of One.Tel, we think that what has come out of that to a degree is a flight to quality - we think that reinforces Telstra's position very strongly." UBS Warburg analyst Paul Richardson has also recommended the stock, after the sell down to the current levels. "We're actually recommending that people have a look at it again, and buy to accumulate it so that's against the herd (of analysts)". Analysts and brokers said Telstra had this week also been hit by end of financial year "tax loss selling", with investors taking advantage of share price weakness to help write off tax losses. Another analyst said Telstra shares would remain volatile in the short term given the view by overseas institutions that the stock was relatively expensive compared to other telcos, although it remained attractive to Australian retail investors. Terms and Conditions Copyright© 2000 LEXIS-NEXIS, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights Reserved.