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Non-Tech : TMX ready to take-off? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: md1derful who wrote (77)	6/3/1999 5:02:00 PM
From: Steve Fancy	Respond to of 92

Emerging Mkts ADRs Mixed; Mexico's Telmex Bond Eyed NEW YORK -- Emerging market shares trading as American depositary receipts were mixed in thin trading Thursday mid-morning. The highlight of session will be the pricing of Mexico's Telmex $750 million convertible bond Thursday evening, traders said. The issue will be jointly-managed by J.P. Morgan and Salomon Smith Barney. The performance of the company's ADRs will be key since the pricing of the 5-year convertible bond will be based on an expected 20% to 25% premium off the closing price of the receipts, traders said. Telmex shares weren't open for trading Thursday morning ahead of details to be released on their bond issue, traders said. Telmex ADRs closed Wednesday 5/16 higher at $78 15/16. Once trading resumes, the receipts are expected to weaken in price, market participants said. "People who buy the bond obviously want to sell the stock and hedge some of their risk," said Ray Fernandez, head of equity trading of the Americas at Bank Paribas in New York. Meanwhile, among other Mexican ADRs, Grupo Televisa was up 13/16 to $42 7/8. The rest of the market was extremely quiet, as Brazil's financial markets were closed Thursday due to a religious holiday. Telebras holders were down 1/16 to $84 3/16, while Aracruz Celulose inched up 1/8 to $19 5/16. Asian ADRs moved higher following a rebound in home markets overnight. Indonesia's Telekomunikasi gained 1/2 to $9 3/4 and China's Telecom was 1 1/4 to $44 3/8. Around 1500 GMT, the Bank of New York Emerging Markets ADR index was up 1.0% at 113.43 points. -By Angela Pruitt;201-938-2269;angela.pruitt@dowjones.com

To: md1derful who wrote (77)	6/3/1999 6:02:00 PM
From: Steve Fancy	Respond to of 92

FOCUS-Telmex bond issue rocks Mexican, US markets Reuters, Thursday, June 03, 1999 at 16:49 By Fiona Ortiz MEXICO CITY, June 3 (Reuters) - Mexican telecommunications monolith Telefonos de Mexico (MEX:TELMEXL)(NYSE:TMX) said Thursday it would issue $750 million in five-year convertible senior debentures in a deal so widely anticipated that it forced a two-hour trading halt in Telmex shares in Mexico and New York. Telmex, the heaviest weighted issue on Mexico's stock exchange and one of the most-traded foreign stocks in New York, could use income from the bonds to pay off higher-interest debt or to continue an acquisition spree, industry analysts said on Thursday. Word leaked into the market that Telmex could be issuing a major bond, forcing securities authorities to stop trade to avoid speculative deals. Once some details were released and Telmex trading resumed, share prices sank amid investor concern that the debt issue, which can be converted into the company's shares, would dilute the current share value. Some industry analysts said Telmex might use the cash to do some more shopping. "I do believe Telmex has clearly indicated to the market that they are looking at assets. It's sort of an opportunistic, with a slight bent toward strategic, move," said Zane Manekia, an analyst with Warburg Dillon Read in New York. Telmex did not give details on the amount of the issue or on the rates. The company said it was filing a shelf registration statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for public offerings of up to $1.25 billion of debt securities. A shelf registration serves notice that Telmex may issue up to that amount of debt in the next two years. In a conference call with analysts, Patrick Grenham of Salomon Smith Barney, which is co-leading the issue along with J.P. Morgan, said $750 million of convertible bonds were currently planned, with a coupon range of 4.0 percent to 4.25 percent and a conversion premium range of 23 percent to 25 percent over the current common stock price. Market sources told Reuters the convertible bond could be priced Thursday night and launched on Friday. New York and Mexican markets halted Telmex trading for about two hours on Thursday morning, awaiting news on the bonds. After trading resumed, the company's shares on the Mexican bourse (MEX:TELMEXL) dropped as much as 3.5 percent and were off 2.6 percent to 37.35 pesos at midafternoon. The company's American Depositary Receipts (NYSE:TMX) bottomed out at $76 before recovering to $76.69, down $2.25 for the day, late in the session. Analysts said the stock could trade down for a few days and said the convertible issue was a sign that the company felt its stock was fully valued. "The company itself believes shares will be valued at these levels. You don't issue a straight convertible because you felt like it, but because you feel your valuation has reached optimum. Those $110 price targets out there may not be reached," Manekia said. But another analyst, who asked not to be named, was more optimistic on future share prices. He said the convertibility was very attractive "if you believe in Telmex like we do. In the future you should be able to get a competitive total return." Manekia said that the company has not pledged to use the funds to pay off debt, and investment in assets would be more interesting given that the company has always managed to secure attractive interest rates on debt. "They could use the proceeds to invest in companies that will yield returns that will be substantially higher than the interest they are paying on existing debt," Manekia said. "If you were paying 7.5 percent on debt and an investment could yield 35 percent, where would you put your money?" Manekia said there could be attractive assets up for sale this year in South America, specifically Colombia and Brazil. In early May Telmex and SBC Communications Inc. (NYSE:SBC), a U.S. Baby Bell, agreed to buy Cellular Communications of Puerto Rico Inc. (NASDAQ:CLRP). Last week Telmex said it would invest up to $100 million in Williams Cos. Inc.'s (NYSE:WMB) Williams Communications Group. Carlos Slim, the majority shareholder in Telmex, has also made other recent acquisitions, including using his Inbursa bank to buy a 24 percent stake in the holding company of Grupo Televisa (MEX:TLEVISACPO), the broadcaster that commands around 75 percent of Mexico's TV-viewing audience. Telmex has a manageable debt to equity ratio in the low 20s, and analysts said the company could go up to 40 percent or more without market repercussions, if it were growing. mexicocity.newsroom@reuters.com)) Copyright 1999, Reuters News Service

To: md1derful who wrote (77)	6/4/1999 3:09:00 AM
From: Steve Fancy	Respond to of 92

(UPDATE) Mexican Regulators Propose Steps To Curb Dominance Of Telmex Dow Jones Online News, Thursday, June 03, 1999 at 21:59 (Published on Thursday, May 27, 1999 at 18:57) MEXICO CITY -(Dow Jones)- Telefonos de Mexico SA would be subject to tariff floors under proposed regulations to curb its power as the country's dominant phone carrier. Meanwhile, Telmex agreed to invest as much as $100 million in common stock of Williams Communications Group Inc. (WMB), the fiber-optic network unit of Tulsa, Okla.-based energy company Williams Cos. Telmex expects to make the investment simultaneous to Williams's initial public offering of the telecom unit, which is worth $750 million in common shares. The companies also said they would interconnect their fiber-optic networks. Williams Cos. is the largest natural-gas shipper in the U.S. Its communications unit is attempting to become one of the country's main providers of the high-speed communications services. Such networks are increasingly in demand for voice, video, and data traffic. Under the proposed new Mexican regulations, Telmex (TMX), as the Mexican Stock Exchange bellwether is known, would also be forced to share more information with rivals who pay for use of its vast network. The services it provides to competitors would have to satisfy minimum standards and, in many cases, fees would have to be based on costs. The regulations, a draft copy of which was obtained by Dow Jones, mark the government's third big move in recent months to alter a regulatory landscape that was widely seen to favor the former state monopoly. The government ordered Telmex to halve network access fees in December and three months later told it to raise long-distance rates. The Federal Telecommunications Commission, or Cofetel, was expected to announce the additional regulations within days. They result from a March 1998 ruling by Mexico's antitrust authority that Telmex dominated markets for most telecommunications services. The regulations are likely to draw fire from Telmex for going too far and from its rivals for not going far enough. Telmex's long-distance rates would have to at least cover costs, a measure likely to please rivals backed by AT&T Corp. (T) and MCI WorldCom Inc. (WCOM) who have reeled under a pricing war that followed Mexico's introduction of long-distance competition in 1997. Cofetel also plans to remove long-distance from a basket of services to determine Telmex's average rate hikes, an important nod to rivals who criticize Telmex for driving down long-distance rates while dramatically raising rates for local calls, a market in which it hasn't yet faced serious competition. By removing long-distance from the basket, Telmex couldn't offset a local rate hike with lower long-distance rates. The regulations would establish a floor and a ceiling for local rates. Setting a floor helps upstarts backed by BCE Inc.'s (BCE) Bell Canada International and Mexican media companies Grupo Televisa SA (TV) and TV Azteca SA (TZA), who are pouring billions of dollars into efforts to loosen Telmex's stranglehold on local service. Some rivals welcomed the stiffer tariff guidelines but faulted them for failing to require an independent auditor to verify Telmex's costs. In another nod to Telmex rivals, Cofetel would require lower network access, or interconnection, fees as Telmex becomes more efficient. It would also limit Telmex to "adequate profit margins" for services it provides to rivals, who complain that they are now overcharged. Those services include use of ports, renting space at switching centers and some customer billing. Telmex would also be forced to turn over to rivals a host of technical information, giving competitors a better idea of what they are paying for. Telmex, with a network of 10.1 million lines, is a crucial resource for competitors, whose networks have limited reach. Complicating the government's plans to issue new regulations, a Mexican judge agreed to review the antitrust ruling that Telmex was a dominant phone carrier. The First District Administrative Court on Monday temporarily suspended the March 1998 ruling by Mexico's antitrust panel that Telmex dominated most telecommunications markets. No date was set for a definitive ruling. Copyright (c) 1999 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

To: md1derful who wrote (77)	6/18/1999 5:37:00 PM
From: Steve Fancy	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 92

After Legal Setback, Rival Telecom Firms Want Rules Put On Telmex Dow Jones Online News, Friday, June 18, 1999 at 16:38 MEXICO CITY -(Dow Jones)- Telefonos de Mexico SA's rivals Friday demanded regulations on the former state monopoly despite an injunction against an antitrust ruling that it was a dominant carrier. The rivals, including carriers backed by AT&T Corp. (T) and MCI WorldCom Inc. (WCOM), said First District Administrative Judge Jesus Rosales Suarez's injunction allows for additional regulations if deemed in the public interest. "We believe it is indispensable that the Federal Telecommunications Commission impose additional regulations as soon as possible, with the objective of protecting the public interest and promoting healthy competition," the rivals said in a press release late Thursday. It was signed by AT&T-backed Alestra SA, MCI WorldCom-backed Avantel SA, Pegaso PCS and two smaller carriers. Pegaso is a mobile carrier backed by Leap Wireless International Inc. (LWIN) and Mexican media giant Grupo Televisa SA (TV). The joint statement was part of what is shaping up to be a public relations offensive to pressure Cofetel, as the regulatory agency is known, to impose additional regulations on Telmex. Both Cofetel and Telmex have declined comment on the injunction, issued Monday, that overturned a March 1998 antitrust ruling that Telmex had monopoly powers. Cofetel was putting the final touches on the additional regulations last month, just before its president resigned to take another government position. A draft copy of the additional regulations establishes tariff floors on Telmex's local and long-distance rates and a ceiling on local rates. The rules would also require Telmex to share more information with rivals who pay for use of its vast network. The services it provides to competitors would have to satisfy minimum standards and, in many cases, fees would have to be based on costs. Copyright (c) 1999 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.