A little like oom really from my point of view - I believe they are the favoured company within their sector and despite the markets - Oftel and the G3 nonsense they will climb back. They pay a divi and this wioll be seen to be increasingly important in the days to come. They have new management and are looking to enhance shareholder value .....

I hold and swing trade a few and not adverse to intraday trading them.

ains


BT in web-based investor relations drive

London, February 7 2003, (netimperative)



by Chris Lake

BT is launching a web-based scheme which it hopes will improve communications with its retail shareholders and help cut costs.


Dubbed 'ShareholderPlus', the system allows investors to sign up and receive BT communications - such as reports, news releases, mandates and, subject to a change in the law, electronic tax vouchers - by email, rather than by post.

BT said this will help it achieve cost savings - by not having to print and despatch reports - and pointed out that it is also good for the environment.

Furthermore, it has negotiated a number of deals with companies such as Virgin Wines, Apollo Travel, RSA and National Car Rental, to market the service and said it will add new offers in the future if it proves to be a success.

BT claims to be one of the first FTSE100 companies to launch such a programme, though it is likely that more will follow.

www.btplc.com/shareholderplus

nice move up from 1.55....notice a few more bullish brokers are bringing their targets down to around 2.hard market to call at moment.

I am assumming the slighly sub 2 targets relate to the current market situation and will move northwards if and when the market starts moving.



ains

April 04, 2003

Tempus

Still plenty of fight in BT
By Suzy Jagger



THE PHONE giant BT is hoping to cheer up consumers with a string of price cuts to mark its new financial year. On Wednesday the company unveiled a new tariff, which sets a maximum of 6p for off-peak calls that last up to an hour. It followed that yesterday with a cut in the benchmark wholesale price for broadband services from 14.75 a month to 13, and hopes the reduction will be passed on.
Investors, however, might well ask what is underlying the generosity. Although consumer price deflation is normal in telecoms, BT investors might have been forgiven for hoping that the financial woes of so many of its principal rivals Cable & Wireless, NTL, Telewest, Energis might have led to a calming down.

The broadband move is largely expected. Since the arrival of Ben Verwaayen as chief executive, BT has been converted to the belief it is possible to expand markets through price cuts. The company wants to ease broadband prices to maintain the momentum of 21,000 sign-ups a week.

But it also needs to help the internet providers using its network to compete better with cable. Cable companies are charging 25 a month, and winning market shares of up to 80 per cent where they operate. Providers using BT network are typically charging 27 or 28 a month.

The 6p for an hour plan is more defensive. BT wants to make life more difficult for cut-price rivals taking advantage of carrier pre-selection a new technology that allows a customer to change their telecoms supplier just by signing a form.

When similar technology was introduced in France it wiped 16 per cent from France Toms market share in a year. Carphone Warehouse, the retailer, which has already launched a service, has signed up 31,000 customers in two months.

Yet it is easy to get overexcited. In both cases, cost-cutting something the company is expert at means the price reductions should be affordable. Unlike France Tom, competition is nothing new to BT. It has maintained an 81 per cent share in residential usage after nearly 20 years.

BT does face other problems. There is no revenue growth from mobile phone use and the yield at 3.5 per cent is low. There are worries about the health of the pension fund, but alarmist FRS17 deficits of 9 billion are exaggerated and BT already contributes 200 million a year extra. These handicaps are well known, and while they might put off a buyer, investors should not run scared as new competitors to the company emerge. Hold.

New Look

IF ONLY New Look shares were as fashionable as the combat trousers and crop tops they sell.

While New Looks teenage ranges may be cheap, the equity stock trades on a 30 per cent discount to the rest of the sector and observers are inclined to look for the bad news in any statement made by the company.

Yesterday was no exception. The shares fell 15p to 223p as New Look confirmed that it would meet full-year profit expectations and said sales excluding the impact of new space had risen 7.7 per cent in the 52 weeks to March 29.

What spooked investors was the revelation that underlying sales growth had slowed to just 1.5 per cent in recent weeks while the gross margin had fallen by 0.4 percentage points.

New Look blamed a slowdown in the retail environment and a move by customers to buy more clothes in the January sales than in the run-up to Christmas. The group also said it was up against very strong comparatives from 2002.

But New Look is confident about its prospects. Profits for the year just ended are expected to come in at about 84 million, a healthy 34 per cent increase over the 2002 numbers. In 2004, analysts expect the company to make about 100 million, delivering earnings per share of 31.7p.

Consumers are undoubtedly spending less but New Look could find itself more protected from the vagaries of the market than some of its rivals.

The company is working on a rejig of its portfolio, which involves expanding a number of stores and modernising smaller more old-fashioned ones. Both moves are delivering a strong uplift in sales.

New Look is on a prospective multiple of 7.7 versus the sector average of ten. It is yielding about 4 per cent, compared with the sectors 4.5 per cent. Consumers look more likely to use a value-conscious retailer than many of its peers. Hold.

Carillion

CARILLION, the construction and services company, picked up the latest in a string of road maintenance contracts yesterday worth up to 160 million. The contract, for Surrey County Council, shows how construction companies such as Carillion can expect to grow revenue by 10 per cent this year, despite the gloomy times.

Since its demerger from Tarmac, Carillion has become adept at securing new-style maintenance contracts and has cast off the bad old ways of its construction heritage. Now 80 per cent of its revenue comes from just 20 key clients. Customers are spread across the public and private sector and include Asda, Arlington, the office park developer, and Network Rail.

Ostensibly this stands Carillion in good stead. There are signs of weakness in the commercial property sector, which will take away one of Carillions sources of revenue. But, if cutbacks on capital expenditure become more widespread, longtrumpeted public sector spending on roads, the railways, hospitals and schools should emerge to fill the gap.

Carillions share price has suffered from negative sentiment towards the sector, caused primarily by Ameys collapse and concerns over the PFI process. But the company has survived Network Rails decision to take some maintenance contracts back in-house and accounting issues are not a concern. A strong relationship with the UK Highways Agency and a burgeoning PPP portfolio overseas will add to the 5 billion forward order book.

The shares trade on a p/e ratio of seven times, which is average, and with a good geographical and business mix it looks more resilient than sector rivals. Buy.

tempus@thetimes.co.uk

Irritating but not life threatening and guess lower priced mean more traffic and business over time


ains


BT must cut internet fee to rivals
Jonathan Prynn, Evening Standard 4 April 2003

T has come under attack from telecoms regulator David Edmonds for the wholesale prices it charges other operators for unmetered internet access.


Edmonds ordered BT to slash its wholesale prices by 17% and refund rivals such as Energis and Cable & Wireless for excess charges levied since December 2001. This could mean lower charges for consumers using dial-up internet services.


The company said the move would cost it between 10m and 15m for the backdated refunds and a similar amount annually from now on. BT shares fell 3 1/4p to 169 3/4p in early trading.


The order, which follows a two-year investigation, applies to narrow-band access to the internet.


Other operators were effectively being overcharged for BT's ' routeing' system - the equivalent of points at a railway junction - which directs calls around the BT network.


Edmonds said: 'When Oftel required BT to introduce a wholesale unmetered internet access service, BT introduced a number of additional measures to support the new services and which were included in the charge to other operators.'


However, technological improvements made by December 2001 meant that these measures were no longer needed, Edmonds said. As a result he plans 'to order BT to reduce its wholesale unmetered internet access prices by 17%, which represents the costs of the now unnecessary measures'. He added: 'These savings could be passed on by other operators to their customers.'


The move will benefit about 10 million internet users, the vast majority of whom do not use BT as their service provider.


Edmonds said: 'Oftel's action will ensure that operators and consumers pay a fair price for unmetered internet access from BT and reflects the relevant costs that BT incurs to provide the service.'


The move came the day after BT announced its second cut in wholesale broadband prices in a year.




2003 Associated Newspapers Ltd.

BT unveils community broadband scheme

London, April 4 2003, (netimperative)



by Susie Harwood

BT Wholesale has confirmed that it will go ahead with the full national launch of its ADSL Exchange Activate project aimed at bringing broadband internet to small local communities.


The news comes shortly after BT announced plans to extend the reach of high-speed internet access to more than 90% of small homes and businesses, up from 67%. It plans to do this by revealing new trigger levels for around 600 exchanges that need to be activated by customer demand in order for BT to upgrade the exchange.

However, Bruce Stanford, products director at BT Wholesale, said that even with this new initiative, there would still be gaps to fill in, which is where the Activate project comes in.

The scheme involves a sponsoring body that has a social, development or commercial interest in bringing broadband to specific areas. The sponsor pays a lump sum to get groups of 30 customers connected to ADSL equipment for a three-year period. The first 30 connections will cost 45,000, with subsequent groups of 30 on the same exchange costing 30,000.

Stanford said that trials for the Exchange Activate product have been well received. Trial areas include Corwen in Wales, where partnering organisations that have provided funding and are delivering the service include Denbighshire County Council in conjunction with eCommerce consultants.

This is good news as it helps to increase the market .....




ISPs start cutting prices

London, April 4 2003, (netimperative)



by Susie Harwood

Several UK ISPs have already announced price cuts to their broadband offerings following BT's wholesale cuts yesterday, despite claims by other ISPs that there are no new cost savings to pass on to consumers.


PlusNet and Eclipse Internet both confirmed that they would cut broadband prices from May 1, when the BT cuts come into effect. PlusNet said that it would cut its entry-level home Broadband ADSL product, ADSL Home Surf from 19.99 to 18.99 a month, while Eclipse is reducing the cost of its services for small businesses by almost half.

Eclipse ADSL Connect 1000 service will fall from 95 to 52 a month, while the 2000 service will be 82 a month, down from 140. The ADSL Connect 500 Lite service will also be cut from 22.75 to 20.38.

These price cuts come in response from an announcement from BT that it will cut the cost it charges ISPs for standard domestic broadband connections to 13 from 14.74 a month per customer, and small business services by over 50%.

However, the announcement was criticized by many ISPs, including AOL UK, which claims that BT has recently increased the activation cost per customer from 25 to 20, meaning that these price cuts will not benefit either the service providers or consumers as BT claimed they would.

BT had a sweet week last week....will OFTEL worries as BT try to crush their rivals into dust bring the monster back down again?
http://www.polskishop.com/7_04_03.htm

Lots of good news this morning - futures way up - new loga as well - sector up - - looks good

a very long piece by Nic Fildes of Dow jones on the new image - he concludes that with the turnaround achieved by Verwaayen ove the last year - 5million to rebrand the company is money well spent

Up 3.65% - outperforming market and sector :-))



ains

Scotsman

Sphere we go with new logo for BT


TELECOMS giant BT today revealed its new 5 million spherical corporate logo, which replaces the "piper" who has trumpeted the firms services since 1991.

But Ben Verwaayen, BTs chief executive, insisted the group was not changing its image for the sake of change and there would be no "big-bang" advertising campaign to accompany the new logo, which is the firms second since it became British Telecom in 1980.

He said: "BTs business and its culture is changing so it is important that we have a brand identity that represents the multi-faceted nature of our business. The new logo does the job. It represents BT as being in tune with the multi-media age ."

Angus Porter, managing director of BT Retails consumer division, said the piper had done an excellent job but had " become associated with some outdated perceptions of BT as simply a fixed-line telephone company".

British Telecom has updated their logo tgo reflect their new multi faceted business.
The last upgrade cost 50 million is this one a bargain at 5 million?
http://www.polskishop.com/9_04_03.htm
STOCKSURGERY
www.polskishop.com

LONDON, April 9 (Reuters) - British telecoms company BT Group Plc BT.L said on Wednesday it is rebuilding its presence in Japan two years after its high profile retreat from the world's second largest economy.
BT said it was not planning a return to the days of a big Japan business, but is seeking to strike deals with Japanese firms looking for network management and outsourcing services, especially in Europe.

BT scaled back its business in Japan in 2001 when it sold its stake in Japan Telecom 9434.T as part of a global retrenchment to focus on its European businesses and cut debt.

"We're not looking to go back to the stage where we had a big presence there," said Roger Westbury, spokesman for BT Global Services, the business services and solutions division formerly called Ignite. "We're interested in talking to those companies that are looking for global services and in particular want a presence in Europe," he said.

"We don't see ourselves building networks all around the globe, but if you want a global network we can buy capacity and strike deals and partnerships with other network owners."

Westbury said BT's operation in Japan remains small, with about 15 people.

The FT.com website said BT is talking to a number of global Japanese companies about co-operating to provide network management services, including hardware vendors involved in systems integrations, such as Fujitsu.

It said BT has been building its regional undersea cable networks in the Asia-Pacific region, but it relies on local telecoms companies to manage the local network.

250 exchanges to get ADSL by Autumn
By Tim Richardson
Posted: 09/04/2003 at 09:31 GMT


BT reckons that growing demand for broadband will enable the telco to convert a further 250 exchanges to ADSL by the end of September. The prediction is based on current levels of broadband interest in areas currently not served by ADSL.

Since BT's demand-led scheme - which sets thresholds representing the level of demand needed to make conversion to ADSL commercially viable - went live last year some 850 exchanges have been given trigger levels. Of those, just under 50 have met their threshold, been upgraded to ADSL and are now live.

A further 245 exchanges have so far hit their threshold and are currently in the process of being upgraded to ADSL. Oh, and BT is to award trigger levels to a further 600 exchanges by the autumn.

Esat BT launches rival broadband service
Thursday, April 10 10:20:16

(BizWorld)

Esat BT has launched a broadband service for Irish consumers to rival a recent offering from Eircom.

The company is to charge a monthly rental of E49.49 for DSL, which is 10 times faster than standard telephone connection, compared to Eircom's charge of E54.45.
Both firm's broadband product will be available to more than 700,000 telephone lines throughout Ireland over the coming weeks with availability rising to one million lines by the end of the year.


Esat BT also said it will charge E190 for installation, which includes a modem. Eircom's set up fee is similar to its rivals, but it charges E145 for a USB modem.

"We are delighted after months of campaigning to now be in a position to fulfil our commitment to deliver affordable, broadband internet access to consumers," said Esat BT chief executive Bill Murphy.

Minister for Communications, Dermot Ahern, has been pushing for cheaper broadband and flat rate internet access - the latter is due in June - saying that they will drive demand and boost Ireland's e-commerce economy.

A little weak this morning with Durlatcher suggesting they are a trading sell ..... hmmmmmmmmm

LONDON (AFX) - BT Group PLC, the UK's dominant residential telecom supplier, has applied for a High Court injunction to stop strike action by BT engineers.

"We are questioning whether the strike ballot process was carried out correctly and there is an issue over whether the correct notice was given," said a BT Retail spokesman.

The planned strike, set for Monday, stems from a dispute between the union and its voluntary Self Motivated Teams bonus scheme.

The company claims about 6,000 of its 14,000 engineers have already signed up for the scheme and since it started in January they have each earned, on average, an extra 62 stg a week.

But the Communication Workers Union claims the scheme is divisive and puts staff under pressure to increase productivity.

"Also it is not going to be voluntary in the longer term, and it works on a point system which varies depending on location and duties," said a CWU spokesman. The union represents about 13,000 of BT's engineers.

The previous scheme was based on working overtime.

If the union goes ahead with its plans, a 24-hour strike on April 14 would be followed by action on April 25 and April 28.

tf/rn/ak

I note that Durlatcher are getting increasingly nervous about their trading short recommendation :-))




ains

BB is vital and this kind of low leval activity will help over time


BT helps ADSL campaigners
By Tim Richardson Register
Posted: 11/04/2003 at 14:19 GMT


BT Wholesale is trying to make life easier for its unpaid army of volunteers who are trying to muster enough support to get their local exchange converted to ADSL.

It's just launched a new service designed to provide support and encouragement for campaign groups trying to generate enough interest for the telco to cough up and upgrade their exchange.

As well as tips and advice, local campaigners can also send off for promotional material such as leaflets and stickers to help promote the telco's ADSL broadband demand registration scheme.

BT Wholesale says it will print and distribute leaflets on behalf of individual campaigns, provide copy for local papers and magazines and also supply advertising material.

3rd in the top 100 risers list intraday @ 185p - up 5.41% against the sector @ 1.79% and the market @ 1.83% ...... two month high ..... which is nice



ains

Outperforming market and sector at plus 1.51% @ 185p


LOS ANGELES (AFX) - CB Richard Ellis, a real estate service company headquartered in Los Angeles, and BT Commercial, one of the largest full-service brokerages in Northern California, said discussions regarding the merger of their respective San Francisco Bay Area and Sacramento brokerage operations have been suspended indefinitely.
A recent announcement confirmed that discussions between the two firms were being pursued "pending a successful resolution of conditions required of such a transaction".

CB Richard Ellis president Brett White said: "Both CB Richard Ellis and BT Commercial agree that the strategic merits of the proposed merger remain compelling. However, the near term integration challenges proved extremely complex. We soon concluded that attempting to simultaneously integrate the Northern California operations of all three firms at this time would lead us to a less than optimal result."

As to when the discussions might resume, both Brett White and Mike Kamm of BT Commercial agreed that no timetable exists, and no further discussions are planned at present.

newsdesk@afxnews.com slm/