Anyone knows about the recent speculation of big contracts coming up at C&W ??? Would welcome any threads. Thanks.

UK's Cable & Wireless jumps on ABN AMRO optimism

LONDON, Dec 19 (Reuters) - British telecoms firm Cable & Wireless Plc topped the FTSE 100 (^FTSE - news) gainers list on Friday, recovering from a two-month low after C&W's house broker ABN AMRO (Amsterdam: AAH.AS - news) told clients the stock looked cheap.

C&W shares were up 5.3 percent at 133-1/4 pence by midday. Volume was heavy, with over 34 million shares changing hands, above the 90-day average volume of 29.6 million. Earlier in the week, C&W touched 123-1/4p, its lowest level since mid-October.

"Since C&W announced their U.S. exit the stock has drifted off around 10 percent and I think the main reason for that is people have been reducing beta in their portfolios towards the end of the year, but I do think the downside risk has minimalised," said ABN AMRO analyst Richard Eary.

"Even if the markets turn and look for low-beta stocks next year and go back to value plays, C&W should also come up on radar screens given its cash pile, low multiples and ability to increase the dividend side or potentially embark on share buy-backs," Eary added. He has an "add" rating on C&W, with a price target of 148p.

C&W shares have been the star performer of the blue-chip FTSE index in 2003. Friday's rise brings its increase in the year so far to a massive 196 percent. The next best gainer looks set to be mobile phone company mmO2 , up 74 percent at 77p since the beginning of January.

Cable&wireless Worldwide wins global government telecoms contract

Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) signs 82* million, five and a half year contract

Global telecoms framework for managed services to more than 150 countries

Anticipated that other government departments will separately contract for services under the agreement

Includes Next-Generation Network (NGN) and advanced IP data and voice services

Just gone long here.

Final Results.

Financial highlights

-- EBITDA up 2.6% to GBP442 million

-- Profit before tax, before exceptional items, up 23% at GBP143 million

-- Delivered free cash flow of GBP61 million

-- Hosting and Applications margin up 10%

-- Final dividend of 3.0 pence per share recommended; full year dividend 4.5 pence

-- Board intends to hold the annual dividend level at 4.5 pence until covered by free cash flow

Operational progress

-- Extended relationship with Boots UK in an agreement to supply and manage a range of data and telephony services

-- Won a three year contract with Babcock to consolidate their network estate and connect 250 UK and international sites

-- Agreed framework contract to provide a highly resilient global network for the UK Government

-- Launched 'Flexible Computing', our innovative cloud proposition

Heavy volume with 126m UT.

Ex dividend this Wednesday (8th). 3p.

From last night :-

RNS Number : 8657I

Cable & Wireless Worldwide PLC

21 June 2011

21 June 2011

Cable & Wireless Worldwide plc

Response to recent press speculation

The Board of Cable & Wireless Worldwide plc notes the recent press speculation in relation to an approach for its Global business. The Board has considered and rejected that approach.

Paul Moore

Head of Secretariat

Cable & Wireless Worldwide plc

Got the dividend today - it equates to a 12.66% yield at today's price! God knows where this is going.

Ah yes, but it's not G'teed to continue and Dir will think "Hmm, I'll have some of that as a Bonus!"

Also, a good yield is no good if the sp keeps falling . . . . more-or-less what's happened to LT shareholders over the last few years . . . . and spending money on knocking up two businesses is really a waste of funds; - er, IMHO.

Why this has been falling recently. Many small jumps on a big purchase, but no move at the end of the day.

All trades have been AT!

Hal Yearly Report.

Trading performance in line with market expectations, trading cash flow up 19%

Underlying margin and EBITDA stable year on year

Package of measures announced aimed at reducing costs, improving marketplace performance and ensuring a strong and resilient balance sheet

Gavin Darby to join as Chief Executive Officer on 28 November 2011 - John Pluthero to leave the business in March 2012


Financial highlights

EBITDA1 190 million (H1 2010/11: 214 million), underlying performance stable

Gross margin1 511 million (H1 2010/11: 522 million), underlying flat

Trading cash flow2 strengthened by 19% to 38 million

Exceptional items - goodwill impairment (436 million), deferred tax asset write down (146 million) and the write off of obsolete assets (42 million) totalling 624 million

Agreement concluded with pension fund trustees, initial payment of 100 million, 125 million of available resources released

Interim dividend of 0.75 pence per share to be paid in January 2012 at a cost of 20 million. Future dividends suspended to improve balance sheet strength

Trading highlights

UK Enterprise - recent contract wins to restart hosting growth

Renewal and extension of framework Government contract, providing greater opportunities to engage with UK public sector

Progressing global markets - 7% enterprise margin growth

Extra 35% of data centre capacity commissioned - to start to come on stream in H2

New Chief Executive

The Board has appointed Gavin Darby as Chief Executive Officer with effect from 28 November 2011

John Pluthero will leave the Board in December 2011. He will stay with the business to effect an orderly handover and will leave the business in March 2012

The fall is overdone.

I wouldn't be surprised if Pluthero's personal terms for a takeover were too onerous for an acquirer. So, a deal may be a lot easier to get done without him on board. If so, it needs to get done soon .... 50-60p is likely price range.

CW has a monopoly in Panama.I know what it's like to sit for a hour or more waiting for someone to deal with customers needs.It would help if there were some competition and get those people organizing a system that recognized that people are human beings who can't afford to spend half a day waiting to be attended to.Monopolies are bad for everybody.Look what Maggie did for Utility Companies in UK.At least service wise they became very efficient.

LONDON (Reuters) - Cable & Wireless Worldwide picked a former Vodafone (LSE: VOD.L - news) executive to run the company on Tuesday and cleared the decks for his arrival with a host of writedowns and a halt to dividends.

The group, which had already dispensed with senior executives after three profit warnings in less than a year, said CEO John Pluthero would be replaced by Gavin Darby, who will start on November (Stuttgart: A0Z24E - news) 28.

Analysts interpreted the string of exceptional items as a necessary move to secure the services of Darby to turn the company around and regain the trust of investors.

"He's well respected, he's a big hitter at Vodafone, he will not want to walk into a business like this and have his reputation destroyed over the next two years," analyst Will Draper at Espirito Santo told Reuters.

The group announced one-off items totalling 624 million pounds, agreed a 100 million pound payment into its pension fund and froze future dividends after its interim payout in January.

The one-off items pushed the group to a half-year loss of 443 million pounds.

Pluthero, whose remuneration had been a bone of contention with investors, will leave the business in March 2012.

He told reporters he had no regrets over taking a 10 million pound bonus from a private-equity style incentive plan in the three years before the business demerged from Cable & Wireless Commercial in March 2010.

"The business isn't that far off track," he said. "I'm sure the package of measures we're announcing this morning will encourage shareholders to get behind the business in the coming months."

Darby, who left Vodafone in 2010, will have an annual salary of 600,000 pounds and the potential for a bonus and shares in his new job.

Shares in the group were down 10 percent at 27 pence, compared with a peak of 98.5 pence shortly after the demerger.

"Why chase CWW here?" Mark James of Liberum Capital asked. "No free cash flow, a revolving door of executives, no dividend any more and no growth. We remain sellers. CWW, despite the demise in the share price, continues to look singularly unattractive versus its peers."

REPEATED WARNINGS

C&W Worldwide, which competes with BT , provides voice, data and Internet Protocol-based services to multinationals and governments after it demerged from the Communications business, which is focussed on the Caribbean.

The profit warnings have been blamed on austerity measures by the British government, pricing pressure on core data services and higher energy and rental costs. Its (Euronext: ALITS.NX - news) traditional voice business has also declined faster than expected.

Pluthero noted that trading had become extremely volatile in the last six months, with corporations taking longer to commit to new contracts.

"I think it will take two or three more months of the euro zone edging towards the right answer before they really feel confident about putting their hands in their pockets again," he said, explaining that their UK customers did much of their business in Europe (Chicago Options: ^REURUSD - news) .

"There's proper caution out there today."

Espirito's Draper noted, however, that underlying trading in the first half had been broadly in line with consensus, with revenues for the six months flat at 1.1 billion pounds and core earnings down 11 percent at 190 million pounds.

But the group failed to outline a clear strategy for the future, and Draper said there was concern that the new CEO would take time to decide how best to focus the business.

"You could see this, you would hope, as marking the low point for Cable & Wireless (LSE: CW.L - news) ," he said. "But there are still some risks. We really don't know what Gavin Darby's strategy is going to be, and I don't think there is any strategy at all in today's announcement."

Darby was previously the chief executive of Vodafone UK and the International business, which was responsible for the United States, Africa, India and China.

In auction.

RNS Number : 5171T

Cable & Wireless Worldwide PLC

07 December 2011

Cable & Wireless WORLDWIDE plc

NOTIFICATION OF TRANSACTIONS OF DIRECTORS, PERSONS DISCHARGING MANAGERIAL RESPONSIBILITY (PDMR) OR CONNECTED PERSONS

In accordance with DTR 3.1.4R(1)(a), Cable & Wireless Worldwide plc ("the Company") advises that on 6 December 2011, Gavin Darby, a Director, purchased a total of 2,000,000 ordinary shares in the Company at a price of 16.89 pence per share.

Anyone in these?

I have some, but was just this minute looking at them again. This link - Cable & Wireless Worldwide: a call for more reinvention or break up? was posted over the road earlier - worth a read.

cheers Sinny. Just bought a few

In theory the Yield is 20+% so you get your investment back in (er, 5 years?), assuming no rise in sp.

Looks like a good deal to me, esp. as the recent purchase of 2m shares by Director.
But I'll restrained myself to a modest punt, a few weeks ago.