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The Irish Independent reports that ICT Ireland, the IBEC body representing the information and communications technology (ICT) sector, is calling on the government to invest in research and development in order to secure the future of the industry. Full story to follow on ElectricNews.net.
The Financial Times reports that troubled German mobile operator MobilCom expects the deadline for repayment of a EUR4.7 billion loan to be extended, staving off the threat of insolvency. France Telecom, which ended its partnership with MobilCom last month, has signed a memorandum of understanding with MobilCom's 17 lending banks and its equipment manufacturers that would see the French group assume the bulk of its former partner's debt. "Clear progress has been made in talks about France Telecom taking over this debt, so it would not be in the banks' interest to pull the plug now," said a MobilCom source. An extension of the debt, which falls due on Monday, would also give the German operator more time to restructure its debt.
The paper also reports that the collapse in valuations of tech companies is luring venture capital funding back into the sector, according to a new survey. The "Millennium Millionaires 2003" report by recruitment group Norman Broadbent International (NBI) found that post-investment valuations of venture capital-backed companies had fallen by more than half since a peak of 2000. Although the return of investment activity is generally seen as positive, it can be a double-edged sword for companies, according to Phil Peters, director of NBI's technology practice. "The good news is that they can now at last raise money to get businesses up and running; the bad news is that they are selling considerably more equity for that to happen," he said.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Reuters Group is launching a new instant-messaging service for traders and investors, aimed at competing with Bloomberg's rival offering. The new IM service lets the user know immediately when an intended message recipient is on-line. Reuters Group chief executive Tom Glocer says the product "leapfrogs" a similar service that Bloomberg has offered for the past nine years, but he insisted the service is "not a 'me-too' product".
The same paper says shares in IBM surged on Friday after brokerage firm Lehman Brothers upgraded the computer-services giant. Lehman analyst Daniel Niles upgraded IBM's stock from "equal-weight" to its highest rating, "overweight." Niles said the company's third-quarter net income should be in line with analysts' expectations when it releases its results on 16 October. In late Friday afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange, IBM shares rose USD6.34, or 11 percent, to USD63.92.
The Sunday Tribune reports that the National Parents Council Post-Primary is warning parents to beware of high mobile bills that may be run up by young people following the launch of a premium-rate text messaging game from Vodafone. The Botfighters location-based game requires players to send multiple text messages at EUR0.20 apiece.
The paper also says that computer disk drive maker Seagate, one of Northern Ireland's biggest employers, has filed to go public again; the company was taken private in late 2000. The same paper publishes a long interview with eTel chief Sean Melly, who is backing a Yes vote in the Nice referendum. Melly has telecom operations in various central European states that are due to join an enlarged EU, including Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
The US fund Elliott Advisors is claiming that Colt Telecom has over-estimated its future profits by up to EUR633 million, according to the Sunday Times. The paper says the fund will petition the High Court within 10 days to appoint administrators to Colt, which for its part has claimed to have STG1 billion in cash and no debt. Elliott says that, according to its analysis, most of Colt's assets are "virtually worthless."
The Sunday Business Post reports that Goodbody Stockbrokers has cut its recommendation and is reducing its forecasts for ParthusCeva. Goodbody said it has reduced ParthusCeva from a "buy" to a "hold" because it believes the market has further deteriorated for the semiconductor intellectual property market.
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