Still heavy trading for IMOT, ZSUN was incredible in its bidding up!! PCNTF has been climbing steadily, and flew today on earnings release, new subscribers, and planned expansion on the net. Up 11 1/2! Think the ASIANS have been all over The radar screens, and are still going to get HOT, HOT, HOTTER!! With any news, IMOT will fly again and XNET keeps creeping up! But here, this just out:
HK Telecom, Eyes Asian Internet Expansion, Mulls Stock Listing
Hong Kong, April 1 (Bloomberg) -- Hong Kong Telecommunications Ltd., the city's dominant telephone company, may become the second Asian firm to seek a separate stock listing for its Internet business.
The firm has held internal discussions about a possible separate listing, said C.L. Chan, program director for the firm's electronic commerce program. Other executives familiar with the company said the firm is likely to seek a listing on the Nasdaq stock market.
Company officials declined to comment on a report in Hong Kong's Ming Pao newspaper that a Nasdaq listing would be arranged by Goldman, Sachs & Co. Goldman also declined to comment.
''Obviously Hong Kong Telecom is keen to capture in its market valuation the value of its Internet, multimedia and broadband capability and the growth potential that this represents,'' said Simon Smith, Hong Kong Telecom's manager for investor relations.
''We don't want to comment specifically on our plans to achieve that, but we're pretty confident about the future of these types of services,'' Smith said.
Pacific Internet Ltd. of Singapore, which this year became Asia's first Internet-related company to list on the Nasdaq, more than doubled to $58.19 since its Feb. 5 debut. The company's initial offer raised $51 million.
Hong Kong Netvigator, HK Telecom's Internet service provider, or ISP, accounts for about 3 percent of the company's total sales, or HK$1 billion ($129.4 million), according to Daniel Widdicombe, an analyst at Bear Stearns Cos. in Hong Kong.
HK Telecom would probably try to value its Internet business at about at 10 percent of the company's current market capitalization, or about US$2.3 billion, analysts said. Selling a third of the unit to the public would mean a share sale of about US$345 million.
''The challenge for Hong Kong Telecom is to demonstrate to the investment community that their ISP business can grow as fast as those in the States,'' Widdicombe said. ''But there's a limited population in Hong Kong, unlike the States, where there are 35 million Internet users.''
Hong Kong Netvigator has about 300,000 subscribers, half the estimated number of users in a city of 6.6 million. Pacific Internet has about 200,000 subscribers in Singapore, Hong Kong and the Philippines.
Asian Ambitions
Internet competition in the city heated up this month, when Wharf Holdings Ltd. said it will introduce a rival Internet service through its cable service. Pacific Internet, which has 32,000 subscribers in Hong Kong, also said it will boost services to attract more customers.
Hong Kong Telecom shares fell 2 percent to HK$15, compared with a 0.6 percent drop in the benchmark Hang Seng Index.
HK Telecom is also planning to build a pan-Asian Internet service network through acquisitions similar to its $5 million purchase this month of Taiwan's TIC Network Service Inc., Smith said. Hong Kong would be the hub for such a network, he said.
The company paid $31.7 million last year to buy a Hong Kong Internet service business from Star Telecom International Holdings Ltd.
**Enter the DRAGONS!!
regards
2MARS
PS. Keep a watch on QCOM, which will benefit greatly from sharing wireless technology in China. QCOM will be reporting earnings 4/20 and heavy rumors of a split announcement. QCOM has been up 20 pts since settlement with ERICY, and is the second TOP performer on the NASDAQ, next to CMGI inc. Other players in the wireless are WWCA, PTEL,PCS,FON,AND NOK.A In the domestic market around 35,000 new cell phone users per week, and biddings for new territories are going on as we speak. |
