The Week In Review

Friday 16th February 2001

With business editor Nick Stride

Telecom's December third-quarter earnings slumped to $139 million from $151 million a year ago as the cost of pursuing growth in Australia bit. Analysts had been expecting net earnings of about $151 million.

The Dairy Board lifted its estimate of the final season payout to $4.50 a kilogram of milksolids, the highest in many years. It cited string demand and flat production in Europe, improving business conditions in Russia, Latin America and Asia, and the low New Zealand dollar.

Baycorp said its December first-half profit, to be announced on February 21, would show higher revenue and earnings, in line with analysts' expectations. It was responding to speculation its trading environment had deteriorated.

Sharebroker JP Morgan said downgrades in profit forecasts by broking houses outnumbered upgrades by three to one. Its report details 31 downgrades and 11 upgrades.

Cadmus Technology entered the Australian market by buying a 4.55% holding in Insight Technologies. Cadmus also won a contract to provide the Vodafone Warriors rugby team holding company with ground access control and ticket holder electronic management programmes.

Casino operator Sky City launched a $38.7 million, 25c a share takeover bid, via a market stand on March 8, for cinema group Force Corporation. The offer is conditional on Sky City securing Force chairman Peter Francis' 50.1% holding.

Meat processor Richmond listed on the Stock Exchange's main board on Tuesday, closing the day at $2.41 compared with $2.20 on its last day on the unlisted secondary board. The investment statement projects a $19.4 million September-year profit, up 66% on the previous year.

Network technology developer Indranet signed a deal to develop and deploy a private network to run the Virtuhalls information services project in the French city of Nice.

National Mail, which closed its mail delivery service in December, said a due diligence process had finished with no offers received for its brand and assets. The company is listed with tax losses and no debt and "a number of offers" had been received in that regard, chairman Richard Flower said.

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