i was wondering if anyone out there had any strong views? this company appears to be delivering and has just turned EBITA positive after a great trading statement last week. seems like upside to +200p once results are out.

any comments or thoughts would be appreciated.

Nice one. Perhaps a new contract or two and some good results in Feb may lead to an upgraded target price.

my view as well. if there are any more LLU wins these will spike fast.

Considering some consolidation in the sector, a take over target perhaps. A snippet form that buy note makes interesting reading:

"Separately, we still believe that Easynet is the most attractive consolidation target.
While we would be surprised if a bid was forthcoming during the regulatory review (due to complete in 1Q05), we still see this as possible over the next 12 months. Our view is that operators that are thinking of going it alone will rethink after they start trying to unbundle exchanges because the process and the building of the infrastructure is time consuming. Remember, Easynet has been doing this for over three years. Also, there is a physical constraint in space, meaning that the number of operators present in each exchange will be limited. We believe these factors will make Easynet particularly attractive."

i could have written that! i think these guys are cribbing off this site!

cheers for the post. just adds to the attractiveness of the name.

Lol! No probs. Maybe you should start charging them then! Would help pay for all these nappies!

tell me about it!

quick funny story...when my wife and I moved to Jakarta we had a four month old baby and found that they didn't stock pampers/huggies out there. My wife decided to buy a years supply in one go (from Singapore). it was so expensive but a real joke because we literally transported a pallet of nappies and wipes out there. credit to my wife though, she got the sizes and quantities spot on. what was funny was that it was like we had won a competition...the packers had a good laugh as well.

LOL!!! Makes sense though. I hope you got a discount on bulk buying, at least 25%! Top marks to your wife for planning ahead and a good job of forecasting the quantity! I've heard of hiring a van to move furniture, but nappies!! I wonder if customs searched them all!

Just had my stop hit on SSL intra-day, and typically, it's bounced!

tell me about it. we came back to the UK with TWO lorries full of furniture most of which is piled on top of eachother in the garage! now where is that ebay site....

i have to say i am not a huge fan of stops. just one mans opinion. if you are in touch with a name and are disciplined then you can get out of most situations on your terms. i detest it when stocks have morning/minor spikes and you find stops triggered when a stock just needs to calm down. of course if you do expect a major shock one way or another ie a biotech or a one drill wildcat name then a stop is worth every penny.

what a spiel!

Bloody stop losses! Lol! Got stopped out at 317.4 and closed with bid around 326! Was just a small punt on continued bid rumours so not a great loss as such. Still, will take a look back tomorrow as the sp seems to drift a bit during the day then rises towards the close. Suppose though, can't moan too much about stops, they saved me quite a bit on PCI!
There's always tomorrow!

share down...seeing if the buyers are still around. lack of news over the next few weeks could see them drift. we need an LLUStram announcement. AOL would be nice!

what happened to that spec deal with pipex- wish these f-ckers could break through 1.10-

patience old boy! walk them down and see if the support is still there

Just found this on the website, may be of interest, but not as much as AOL would be!

Easynet broadband services set to transform the learning experience at Reading schools
Publication date: 14/01/2005


Pan-European broadband networking company Easynet today announces that it has been selected by Reading Borough Council to provide its broadband services to 55 schools as part of the South East Grid for Learning. The three-year contract is worth 1.4m and provides schools in the region with high-speed broadband connectivity, content filtering and security. Easynets technology will play a fundamental role in helping pupils and teachers to realise the full potential of broadband in the teaching and learning process and ensure that South East Grid for Learning meets the Governments strategic targets for broadband implementation ahead of 2006.

The Reading Borough Council contract is the latest of several major Education contracts signed by Easynet in 2004, which include Surrey County and Slough Borough Councils, and follows Easynets substantial activity in the North East of England connecting major LEAs in the region. Easynet has been selected as part of the South East Grid for Learning (SEGfL) framework.

Jon Hartley, Reading Borough Councils Lead Councillor for Education and Lifelong Learning, said: "Easynet is a good choice for Reading because in addition to its extensive experience of developing broadband in schools, it has extensive network experience. Easynets emphasis on customer support should provide our schools with the high-quality back-up they need."

Easynet is also collaborating with Netmedia Education with whom it has forged a strategic alliance to provide enhanced learning environment services including email and a virtual learning environment (VLE) for local schools. This is the first time Easynet has worked with Netmedia Education in the South East Grid for Learning and builds upon a successful relationship working together on the Northern Grid for Learning. The suite of services will be available to every school in the borough.

David Rowe, Chief Executive Officer, Easynet, said: "Easynet is delighted to build upon its achievements to date in bringing the full transformational potential of broadband to schools. We look forward to working with Reading Borough Council to ensure that schools in the borough can take full advantage of the educational benefits that that broadband technology has to offer to raise standards and increase opportunity."

quality company!

shares rarely go up or down in a straight line. jopefully we see these trend higher soon...

Found this whilst googling:

Saudi Telecom launches Easynet service
Telecom Paper (subscription), Netherlands - 1 hour ago
Saudi Telecom has launched its new Easynet service to allow phone landline users in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to connect to the Internet via any ISP, reports ...

Unfortunately the article is a subscription one so can't read the full piece. Wasn't aware of the company operating in SA so maybe nothing to do with us.

A very interesting piece that I've just found that is worth reading IMO. Could have some long term implications for the sector.

BT, Kingston face EC illegal state aid probe
By Tim Richardson
Published Wednesday 19th January 2005 17:17 GMT
BT and Kingston Communications are facing an European Commission (EC) investigation over allegations that they may have benefited from illegal state aid.

The investigation centres on a property tax relating to the telecoms infrastructure of both companies. The base of the business rates tax is worked out for each telco by the UK's Valuation Office Agency (VOA), which applies various valuation methods to assess the economic value of telecoms networks. The EC wants to find out why different valuation methods are used compared to other telcos.

Said the EC in a statement today: "The VOA applies a certain asset valuation method to BT and Kingston, while it applies other methods to their competitors. The application of different methods may favour BT and Kingston resulting in a disproportionate tax burden for other companies competing in the market for electronic communications services."

The European inquiry is to run alongside a similar investigation by UK's Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).

The investigation was prompted by optical network company Vtesse Networks which claims that BT has benefited from a whopping 12bn in tax relief since 1995.

In an outspoken attack Vtesse Networks chief exec Aidan Paul said: "Why does BT pay tax equivalent to a rental value of 16 per annum per local loop line, but has subsequently charged other operators a rental of 122 per annum for the same line, when both rentals should have been based on fair market values? By our calculations, this amounts to a tax disparity of up to 12bn.

"Did BT lie to the Government when setting the original rental tax, or did it lie to [former telecoms regulator] Oftel when setting local loop 'unbundling' prices during the deregulation process? If it didn't lie to either, then why are these two numbers so different? Was this a deliberate tactic to keep competitors out whilst minimising its tax bill, or just gross incompetence in the finance department? And why did neither the Inland Revenue, the or Oftel spot this disparity? Did it never occur to either group of civil servants to check with the other?

"We want the answers to these questions, and so wholeheartedly welcome today's announcement by the European Commission. This action is the culmination of over a year's work with the Commission relating to what we maintain is the illegal and discriminatory application by the Inland Revenue, the VOA and the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister of non-domestic business rates to the telecommunications sector. This results in BT not only paying the lowest level of taxation in relation to its business than any other telecoms operator, but also having a higher level of assets...than any other operator."

Paul reckons the situation has arisen because of the "difficulties of ensuring transparency within a large vertically integrated company" - something that could have been avoided if BT had been split.

"We now therefore call on the Government to work towards splitting BT up, as it is clear that neither BT nor the Government can be trusted to properly police and regulate a company of this size and power," he said, calling on rivals including Cable & Wireless, Easynet, Energis and Your Communications, among others, to help the EC in its investigation.

BT said in a statement: "BT is surprised that the European Commission is to investigate the UK government over the property rates that BT has been paying. In BT's view, any allegation of state aid would be groundless as BT has received no benefit from the UK government. BT is confident that the UK government will demonstrate the fairness of the UK ratings system."

BT is already facing a shake-up of its business following a wide-ranging telecoms review by regulator Ofcom.

A spokeswoman for Kingston said: "Until we know the outcome of the investigation we cannot comment further."


http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/01/19/bt_kingston_probe/

i may be wrong but feels like there is some support out there. famous last words i know but another tick up tomorrow would be very interesting considering some of the weakness in tech. we shall see.....

which way next??????????-

now where is that crystal ball!

may stay here until the next announcement. at worst may drift slightly.

Found this which is of interest from Sloane Robinson Eurpoe Investment Trust. I like their price target. :-)

""December was a strong month for the portfolio as the fully diluted NAV per share rose 6.6%, this compares to the MSCI Europe index up 3.9%. The largest single positive contributor was the portfolios position in the UK alternative telecom company Easynet.
The stock rallied nearly 50% during December. This has been a long standing holding in the portfolio that we have been adding to in recent months following significant weakness earlier in the year. It is our belief that the company offers both a multi-year organic growth opportunity and occupies an extremely attractive strategic position in the UK telecoms market. Our price target is 190p compared to a recent purchase price of 66p and the current price of 107p."

http://https://www.sreit.co.uk/SR/WEB/localdata/WEB/DATA/WEBSECTIONS%5DMATTACHMENT/MS1198_845//SREIT_Dec04.pdf