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.

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.

I take it you did read the Half Yearly Report?

"Interim dividend of 0.75 pence per share to be paid in January 2012 at a cost of GBP20 million. Future dividends suspended to improve balance sheet strength"

Yes and No. Asset value is a couple of times more than the share price. They have many options even if the situation does not improve.

something going on here. watch it out...

Ahoj - were you refering to the movement of the SP or something else?

John Pluthero, who was replaced as CEO at Cable and Wireless Worldwide last month, is leaving its Board at the end of the year.

He will remain with the company for another three months to assist with the handover of responsibilities to the new Chief Executive Officer, Gavin Darby.

RNS Number : 4021V

Cable & Wireless Worldwide PLC

11 January 2012

Interim Management Statement and Strategic Update

Cable & Wireless Worldwide (CW.) will issue its Interim Management Statement on Thursday 16 February which will include a strategic update from Gavin Darby, CEO.

Details for this event will be issued in due course.

ENDS

RNS Number : 4957V
Cable & Wireless Worldwide PLC
12 January 2012

TR-1: NOTIFICATION OF MAJOR INTEREST IN SHARES

1. Identity of the issuer or the underlying issuer of existing shares to which voting rights are attached:

Cable & Wireless Worldwide plc

2 Reason for the notification (please tick the appropriate box or boxes):

An acquisition or disposal of voting rights
X

An acquisition or disposal of qualifying financial instruments which may result in the acquisition of shares already issued to which voting rights are attached

An acquisition or disposal of instruments with similar economic effect to qualifying financial instruments

An event changing the breakdown of voting rights

Other (please specify):

3. Full name of person(s) subject to the notification obligation
Orbis Holdings Limited (parent)

Orbis Asset Management Limited

(investment manager and controlled undertaking)

Orbis Investment Management Limited

(investment manager and controlled undertaking)
4. Full name of shareholder(s) (if different from 3.):

Vidacos Nominees Limited

HSBC Custody Nominees (Australia) Ltd

5. Date of the transaction and date on which the threshold is crossed or reached:

6 January 2012

6. Date on which issuer notified:

12 January 2012

7. Threshold(s) that is/are crossed or reached:
Over 17%

8. Notified details:

A: Voting rights attached to shares

Class/type of
shares


if possible using
the ISIN CODE
Situation previous
to the triggering
transaction
Resulting situation after the triggering transaction

Number
of
Shares
Number
of
Voting
Rights
Number
of shares
Number of voting
rights
% of voting rights

Direct
Direct
Indirect
Direct
Indirect

GB00B5WB0X89
434,606,290
434,606,290

460,050,104

17.03%

B: Qualifying Financial Instruments

Resulting situation after the triggering transaction

Type of financial
instrument
Expiration
date
Exercise/
Conversion
Period
Number of voting
rights that may be
acquired if the
instrument is
exercised/ converted.

% of voting rights

C: Financial Instruments with similar economic effect to Qualifying Financial Instruments

Resulting situation after the triggering transaction

Type of financial
instrument
Exercise
price
Expiration
date
Exercise/
Conversion
period
Number of voting
rights instrument
refers to
% of voting rights

Nominal
Delta

Total (A+B+C)
Number of voting rights
Percentage of voting rights

460,050,104
17.03%

9. Chain of controlled undertakings through which the voting rights and/or the
financial instruments are effectively held, if applicable:

Orbis Asset Management Limited is a controlled undertaking of Orbis Holdings Limited.


Orbis Investment Management Limited is a controlled undertaking of Orbis Holdings Limited.

Proxy Voting:
10. Name of the proxy holder:
11. Number of voting rights proxy holder will cease to hold:
12. Date on which proxy holder will cease to hold voting rights:
13. Additional information:
14. Contact name:

Paul Moore, Head of Company Secretariat

Cable & Wireless Worldwide plc

15. Contact telephone number:

+44 (0)20 8243 1822

I hold a few

Can it get back to 30p?

Starting to show some life. Fingers crossed, though.

RNS Number : 9529V
Cable & Wireless Worldwide PLC
20 January 2012

Cable & Wireless Worldwide plc ("the Company")

Additional Listing

Application has been made for the admission of 40,721,464 ordinary shares of 5 pence each in Cable & Wireless Worldwide plc to the Official List of the UK Listing Authority and to trading on the London Stock Exchange on 26 January 2012

These shares will be issued pursuant to the Cable & Wireless Worldwide plc Scrip Dividend Scheme.

These shares will rank pari passu with the Company's existing issued ordinary shares.

Contact for queries:

Paul Moore

Head of Secretariat

Cable & Wireless Worldwide plc


Telephone: +44 (0) 20 8243 1822

I sold ha;f earlier, but it appears that it can get to 70p again.