18th October 2007 : Leadcom voted "AIM International Company of the Year for 2007"




Main Web Site : http://www.leadcom-is.com/

Investor Relations Email : investorsinfo@leadcom-is.com

2517.... Fair point and as a general principle I very much subscribe to the "sales are vanity, profits are sanity" school. What it does not say is how much of remaining sales are to the same customer. If relatively small, then no problem. I do not know the industry well enough to understand LEAD competitors and whether the historically healthy margins they have made elsewhere can be maintained.

After review I would suggest figures like this now (with 2007 being a kitchen sink job).


2007

Turnover $206 mill
Normalised operating profit 9.5% gives $19.57 mill
Exceptional $12 mil (3m+6m+spare 3m)
Tax of 31% of $7.57 mill
Net profit $5.22 mill
120 mill shares in issue

Exchange rate $2.08 to £1
EPS 4.35 Cents = 2.1p


2008

Turnover $320 mill
Normalised operating profit 10% gives $32 mill
Exceptional $4m
Tax of 29% of $28 mill
Net profit $19.88 mill
125 mill shares in issue (+5m over 2007 for safety)

Exchange rate $1.95 to 1
EPS 15.9 Cents = 8.15p

Hows that short coming along scotinvestor?

have reluctantly decided that, especially in the current climate, LEAD is going nowhere good in the near future so have cut my losses (caused by greed in the first place)

Probably will be a change of major shares ownership in the months ahead, then get what will be awful prelims out of the way - and then quickly move on to Q1 08 results.

If your on margin cynic, then getting out might be a wise choice. I am happy to hold through all of this, mid term things should be very positive, after short term wobbles subside.

i only deal in CFDs but was not under any pressure ..... just don't feel this stock is the place to be at the moment ..... in fact, am generally and gently reducing exposure in the markets as i feel there is an awful lot of nastiness to come

I posted my thoughts on 2007 and 2008 earnings earlier, and its copied below too. I am hoping now - given that nobody really cares anymore about 2007 results, that we get a good "kitchen sink" job at prelims, everything is written down or off and we move forward cleaner than clean into 2008, a year of outperformance.

The insti's buying in now know they will get a divi, so they will not care about this crappy 2007 year, they will be focussing on 2008 onwards, which so am I now.

Leadcom will likely get sleepy now until Q1 2008 results are out (hopefully the prelims will be awful in terms of exceptionals and we limit EPS to under 2.5p).

My estimates :

2007

Turnover $206 mill
Normalised operating profit 9.5% gives $19.57 mill
Exceptional $12 mil (3m+6m+spare 3m)
Tax of 31% of $7.57 mill
Net profit $5.22 mill
120 mill shares in issue

Exchange rate $2.08 to £1
EPS 4.35 Cents = 2.1p


2008

Turnover $320 mill
Normalised operating profit 10% gives $32 mill
Exceptional $4m
Tax of 29% of $28 mill
Net profit $19.88 mill
125 mill shares in issue (+5m over 2007 for safety)

Exchange rate $1.95 to 1
EPS 15.9 Cents = 8.15p

share similar view to Richard, and have sold @45p this am, now out, dont see any immediate rush to hold...

I've stayed in, just in profit, won't buy anymore as there are opportunities appearing in my favoured value area. At these lower levels any news of contract wins could move the LEAD sp up, I suspect there's more good news to come than bad. Says he with his fingers crossed.
2517

Put this on both LEAD and LONR threads, all good news to those exposed to growth in Africa, LONR a lot more than LEAD, but its all relative.


http://allafrica.com/stories/200711020807.html

Africa: Africa Must Invest More in Telecommunications

Highway Africa News Agency (Grahamstown)

2 November 2007 David Kezio-Musoke

The 'Connect Africa' Summit that took place from 29 - 31 October 2007 ended in Kigali, Rwanda with a commitment of US$55 billion to investment and trade in Africa's emerging economies.

The chief of media relations and public information of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), Sanjay Acharya told Highway Africa News Agency (HANA), that the ICT industry takes the lead of those commitments.

Meanwhile, president Paul Kagame of Rwanda said during his closing remarks that investment and trade as opposed to aid and charity must drive the transformation of Africa's economies.

Kagame called for a dynamic ICT sector to connect Africa to the global information superhighway.

"In order to realize this much-needed economic revolution, we have to forge productive relationships between government and business," Kagame said.

The Connect Africa Summit decided to bring forward ICT connectivity goals to 2012 to enable the achievement of the broader Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015.

Commitments were made to interconnect all African capitals and major cities with ICT broadband infrastructure and strengthen connectivity to the rest of the world by 2012.

By 2015, broadband and ICT services will be extended to all African villages. The Summit also sets out to meet the World Summit on the Information Society goals for capacity building, establishing an enabling environment for investment, and e-government services.

The role of governments in setting a level playing field for industry to compete was also highlighted.

It was also decided to ensure harmonization of the regulatory framework to stimulate cross-border integration in large-scale projects. Capacity building was identified as one key area for cooperation among all stakeholders.

Africa's mobile market has been the fastest-growing of any region over the last five years, and has grown twice as fast as the global market. Mobile phones overtook fixed lines in 2001 and now outnumber fixed telephone lines by nearly seven to one, with nearly 193 million mobile cellular subscribers in 2006. This figure is projected to grow to more than 270 million by the end of this year.

Stepping in to consolidate the mobile revolution in Africa, mobile operators of the GSM Association announced USD 50 billion in new investment over the next 5 years to expand and upgrade networks across the continent by 2012. This would provide mobile coverage to more than 90 per cent of the population.

The European Commission announced support for trans-African networks that facilitate interconnectivity.

An EU Trust Fund for Africa of almost 100 million Euros in grants and some 260 million Euros for loans has been established along with the European Investment Bank and ten EU member states for the period 2007-2008.

The fund, which will be substantially replenished at the end of 2008, will finance cross-border projects or national projects with a regional and continental impact that would include ICT. The Commission also announced a contribution of Euro 6 Million to support ITU's regulatory reform initiatives in Africa.

Success in mobile penetration is now set to be emulated in broadband connectivity in Africa, with new investment projects for ICT infrastructure.

"Africa is open for business," said ITU Secretary-General Hamadoun Tour "We are looking for investment through win-win partnerships in a viable marketplace by an expanding ICT industry." He added that wealth creation is key to achieving the MDGs. "This new investment in ICT infrastructure will lead to new jobs and overall economic growth," said Dr Tour

The representative of the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Mr Sha Zukang, Under-Secretary-General of the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, said that innovative ways were needed to extend the reach of ICT to the most remote corners of the continent.

"I am confident that with the entrepreneurial spirit of the African private sector working with their international partners, the support of the international community and the commitment from governments, universal connectivity in Africa is no longer a utopian dream," he said.

The World Bank Group announced that it expects to double its commitment to ICT in Africa to US$ 2 billion by 2012 from its current investment programme of US$ 1 billion over the last five years. The financing will continue to promote private sector participation.

The African Development Bank (AfDB) also scaled up its investments in infrastructure, and expects to invest 60 percent of its concessional resources on infrastructure, including ICT, in the next three years.

The Bank committed close to US$ 65 million to two key regional infrastructure projects including RASCOM and the EASSy submarine cable.

Over one thousand participants, including six Heads of State, took part in the Connect Africa Summit.

5 page article on Wimax, its competition and rollouts etc...


http://www.telecomasia.net/article.php?id_article=6276&page=1


Wimax struggles for its place in a post-3G world - again

Nov 09, 2007 By John Tanner and Chris Everett

The post-3G wars are well under way. The telecoms industry has set its sights on mobile broadband, which will be a $400 billion global market by 2012, according to Informa Telecoms & Media. And proprietary or market-specific technologies.........................

http://www.forbes.com/businesswire/feeds/businesswire/2007/11/13/businesswire20071112005828r1.html

Leadcom and Optibase Partner to Deliver Advanced End-To-End IPTV Solution in Kazakhstan

11.13.07, 1:29 AM ET


Optibase Ltd. (NASDAQ:OBAS), a leading provider of advanced digital video solutions and Leadcom Integrated Solutions Ltd. (AIM:LEAD), a leading international provider of innovative telecommunication solutions, announced today a strategic alliance to roll out integrated TV over IP services. The first project will be delivered to a leading Telco operator in the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Leadcom selected Optibase's pre-integrated, advanced IPTV platform in order to enhance its offering by adding high quality, broadcast TV and interactive IPTV services. The joint deployment in Kazakhstan includes Optibase's end-to-end IPTV solution consisting of Video on Demand (VOD), personal video recorder (PVR) services, middleware, set-top-boxes (STB) and the Optibase Media Gateway (MGW) carrier-grade H.264 encoding platform.

Countries such as Kazakhstan are experiencing strong growth due to new legislation and liberalization of the telecom sector. The IPTV solution provided by Optibase and Leadcom is ideally suited for this fast growing market, offering a state-of-the art system, which can be deployed both quickly and effectively.

Yoel Bar-Gil, Chief Technology Officer at Leadcom, said: "In this project, Leadcom is delivering a Triple-Play solution (IPTV, IP-phone & broad-band Internet access) to selected subscribers of the Telco operator. Optibase's IPTV solution allows Leadcom to provide its customers with a video over IP system that is efficient and easy to deploy. Furthermore, the Optibase solution provides Leadcom with an extensive offering of interactive and personalized features coupled with top video quality and low bit-rates. This creates a winning combination for our customers."

"Our partnership with Leadcom and the installation in Kazakhstan continue the Optibase momentum in the emerging Asian market:" said Udi Shani, Executive Vice President of Sales at Optibase. "This is based on the winning combination of Optibase's world-class integration, development and implementation services and Leadcom's vast experience in telecommunication networks and global presence, which together create a powerful IPTV solution."

About Leadcom

Leadcom Integrated Solutions Ltd. (Leadcom, AIM: LEAD), established in 1982, is an international leader in innovative telecommunications solutions. Incorporated in Israel, Leadcom was admitted to London's AIM market in April 2005. Operating in over 50 countries throughout the Americas, Europe, Africa and Asia, Leadcom delivers services in the supply, implementation and management of telecommunication network services and solutions. For further information, please visit http://www.leadcom-is.com

About Optibase

Optibase provides professional encoding, decoding, video server upload and streaming solutions for telecom operators, IPTV service providers, broadcasters and content creators. The company's platforms enable the creation, broadband streaming and playback of high quality digital video. Optibase breadth of product offerings are used in applications such as: video over DSL/Fiber networks (IPTV), post production for the broadcast and cables industries, video contribution over IP, archiving, high-end surveillance, education, and business television. Headquartered in Israel, Optibase operates through its fully owned subsidiary in Mountain View, California and offices in, Japan, China, India and Singapore. Optibase products are marketed in over 40 countries through a combination of direct sales, independent distributors, system integrators and OEM partners. For further information, please visit http://www.optibase.com

Given the earlier news of the Optibase tie up for IPTV and other advanced services in Khazakstan, interesting to see Optibase are busy in India too.

http://www.israel-times.com/business/2007/10/india-israeli-optibase-wins-additional-major-contract-for-its-iptv-solutions-3158/

INDIA - Israeli Optibase wins additional major contract for its IPTV solutions

Author: Victoria Stern - Thursday, October 11, 2007

Largest private broadband and telephone service provider in India, Bharti Airtel Broadband & Telephone Services (B&TS) plans to penetrate further the fast-growing IPTV market.

IPTV encoding platforms, or H.264 Media Gateway (MGW) 5100, have already revolutionized the local market just in two past years. The demand continues to climb up and new contracts are being signed. Thanks to Bharti Airtel new deployment, by the end of 2007 thousand of households in India will be able to enjoy new high-quality extensive video services.

Collaborating with three out of four leading IPTV Indian service providers, advanced IPTV encoding platforms by a tier one Telco operator, such as Bharti Airtel, represents an important business relationship for our company” underlined Companys Chief Financial Officer, Amir Phillips.

Some more info on why a decent boost in USA activity should be coming (hence the move by Leadcom to enlarge their US activities and personnel base) :


http://www.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2007/11/super_3g_in_the.html


Super 3G In The Hands Of 24 Million People Predicted By 2012

Posted by Elena Malykhina, Nov 28, 2007 05:10 PM

A new report by Juniper Research forecasts that by 2012, nearly 24 million subscribers worldwide will be using services based on a cellular technology called Long Term Evolution, or LTE, which is often referred to as "super 3G." That means in the next couple of years wireless carriers and mobile device makers will have to step up their game, especially in the United States.

In a battle of high-speed wireless networks, LTE earlier this month was chosen by the GSM Association as the preferred standard for fourth-generation wireless services. LTE is a successor to a 3G technology known as HSDPA. The other two proposed standards were WiMax and Qualcomm-backed Ultra Mobile Broadband.

According to the author of the Juniper Research report, Howard Wilcox, LTE will begin to achieve significant market traction in the 2011 and 2012 timeframe. He stated:

By 2012, for example, we forecast that [LTE] will represent around 24 million subscribers globally. As the GSM Association has said recently, it is a natural follow-on from HSPA and will benefit from the extensive installed base of [HSDPA] worldwide. Western Europe will account for over half of LTE subscribers in 2012.

The report predicts that LTE will go commercial by 2010, or at least early versions of the technology, and that high definition will become a reality on mobile devices.

That forecast is only two years away. Although most of the major carriers have rolled out 3G networks in the United States, they still offer mobile phones without the capability to use them. The iPhone is a perfect example. Instead of 3G, it uses AT&T (NYSE: T)'s slower cellular technology known as EDGE. Both Apple and AT&T have said that the iPhone's already limited battery life would be shortened even further if it had operated on a high-speed 3G network.

I wonder if that's the sacrifice we'll have to make as manufacturers pack more features into phones and as networks become faster and suck more power out of these phones?

Some testing is currently taking place to figure that whole thing out. Alcatel (NYSE: ALU)-Lucent and LG Electronics this month said they completed test calls using Alcatel-Lucent's LTE technology and mobile device prototypes from LG. The companies claim they've achieved one of the industry's first multivendor wireless LTE interoperability testing initiatives.

Juniper Research gives several reasons why we should care about LTE, including:


Downlink peak data rates up to 100 Mbps with 20 MHz bandwidth

Uplink peak data rates up to 50 Mbps with 20 MHz bandwidth

Reduced latency

However, a lot of the talk around LTE is still futuristic. Symbian, the world's No. 1 mobile operating system maker, is in the process of developing two mobile technologies that will make smartphones faster and richer in graphics in the future. One is called FreeWay, a new Internet Protocol networking architecture in Symbian OS, which promises superfast download speeds, high resolution audio and video streaming, and good-quality voice-over-IP calls without latency and jitter.

Whether Symbian's FreeWay and similar mobile technologies can deliver the broadband-like speeds they promise will ultimately depend on availability of LTE and other high-speed wireless services like WiMax.

Looks like a lump of the overhang has been snapped up by someone end of the day.

Ericsson do appear to be cleaning up in India, with Nokia/Motorola and the others not getting much when compared to Eric.


http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2007/12/01/stories/2007120151720400.htm

30th Nov 2007

Ericsson wins $100-m Idea Cellular contract

To supply and manage companys GSM network in Mumbai

Yet another milestone

Deal could be a precursor to Idea Cellular getting spectrum from the Government to commence services in the Circle.

Ericsson will supply radio access, microwave transmission, and core network equipment.

Will also be responsible for network deployment and integration, as well as managed services.

Our Bureau

New Delhi, Nov. 30 Swedish equipment maker Ericsson has won a contract to supply and manage Idea Cellulars GSM network in Mumbai.

The agreement with the Aditya Birla Group company is estimated to fetch revenues of $100 million to Ericsson over a four-year period.

The deal could be a precursor to Idea Cellular getting spectrum from the Government to commence services in the Circle.

The company has been awaiting allocation of spectrum for nearly a year after it received the licence for Mumbai in 2006.

Under the agreement, Ericsson will supply radio access, microwave transmission, and core network equipment, including Ericssons mobile soft switch solution.

The company will also be responsible for network deployment and integration, as well as managed services including network and field operations. Rollout is planned to begin shortly, with commercial launch rescheduled for May 2008.

2nd major deal

This is the second major deal between the two companies. Earlier Idea had given a $300-million contract to Ericsson for expanding its GSM-based cellular network across five circles over a three-year period.

Mr Sanjeev Aga, Managing Director, Idea Cellular, said: This move extends our long-running relationship with Ericsson and will provide us with a latest network in Mumbai. It ensures that we are well-positioned for future network development and addresses increasing customer demand for mobile services in a sustainable and cost-efficient way.

Mr Mats Granryd, Managing Director, Ericsson India, said: This contract is yet another milestone in our strong relationship with Idea Cellular. We are honoured by the confidence shown by them in selecting Ericsson as the preferred vendor for rolling out this prestigious network in Mumbai.

The deal announced on Friday will further enhance Ericssons position in the competitive Indian telecom gear market. It has already bagged some significant projects from BSNL and Bharti Airtel this year. However, the contract from Idea is Ericssons first network win in Mumbai and completes its footprint in Indias 23 telecom circles.

Interesting article in the US, changing their networks from CDMA to GSM (4G).

http://tech.blorge.com/Structure:%20/2007/12/01/verizon-going-4g-lte-gsm-starting-in-2008-and-what-it-means-for-you/

December 1, 2007 | Verizon going 4G LTE (GSM) starting in 2008 and what it means for you

By Danny Mendez

Vodafone CEO Arun Sarin said it would happen, and it looks like it finally will. Verizon will start the switch from 3G CDMA/EV-DO to 4G GSM/LTE in 2008, but what does it mean for the customer?

For those unfamiliar with the acronyms I just used, CDMA and EV-DO are the wireless technologies Verizon uses for its network in the US. This is unlike much of the rest of the world, which uses GSM. GSM is a much more open standard that allows customers to easily switch services and phones. GSM phones use SIM cards, small cards that tell the phone what service and number to use, and they can easily be inserted into any GSM phone. CDMA phones must be registered with the network in order to operate and can only be activated with the specific service it was designed for (Sprint phones are also CDMA but they cant be moved to Verizons network and vice versa).

With Verizon moving to LTE, a GSM technology, it will allow Verizons incredibly reliable and speedy network to work with most GSM phones (read: iPhone is a GSM phone) available. Verizons phone lineup is much weaker than whats available from other companies, and that will no longer be a problem if Verizon switches to a GSM technology.

It only gets better. LTE is a super fast technology allowing for download and upload speeds never before available in the US through a wireless carrier.

Furthermore, Verizon is aiming to open the netwok to devices not traditionally connected through a wireless service provider. Devices like video game consoles, refrigerators, and cars may one day have an always-on speedy data connection through a cellular service provider.

The transition to LTE should be completed by 2013, and it is unknown when Vodafone will start the same transition.

http://www.investegate.co.uk/article.aspx?id=20071212070000Z7577&fe=1


Leadcom Integrated Solutions Ltd


Leadcom Announces Follow-Up Order in India

Leadcom Integrated Solutions Ltd. ('Leadcom' or 'the Company', AIM: LEAD), a leading international provider of innovative telecommunication solutions, announced today that it has been awarded a follow-up order by an existing customer of the Company, a major cellular operator in India.

This order is on a Full Turnkey basis, for the delivery of products and services pertaining to construction of telecom sites in a circle in which Leadcom has already rendered services to this customer, as well as in two new circles.

The value of this order is expected to exceed US$16 million, the majority of which is anticipated to be recognized in the first quarter of 2008.

Arik Alcalay, Leadcom's CEO, commented: 'We are delighted to receive this follow up order, as it is clear evidence to the significant confidence of this major operator has in Leadcom, our performance and abilities. We are very pleased with the progress we are making in the Indian market, and believe to be well positioned in order to capture additional business opportunities in this market during 2008 and beyond.'

-0-
*T
Enquiries:
Yael Margoninsky - Leadcom
Tel: +972 9 769 0011
Andrew Godber - Panmure Gordon
Direct: +44 (0) 20 7614 8385
Matthew Marchant - Blue Oar Securities
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7448 4498
*T

Starting to form a bit of an uptrend now, which is nice to see. Lets hope this buying of the last month or so continues, could well be perhaps Israeli insitutions getting in ahead of the dual TASE listing next year ?


Some other sector related news :

http://www.cellular-news.com/story/28146.php

Nokia Siemens Picks Up Indian Gsm Network Contract

Nokia Siemens Networks has won a US$150 million contract from India's Idea Cellular to build and provide managed services for a Greenfield GSM network in Bihar. The three year contract includes supply of GSM / GPRS and Short Message Service Center (SMSC) equipment, network implementation, roll out project management, service for third party products and managed services.

As part of the contract, Nokia Siemens Networks will not only provide managed services such as operating and maintaining network infrastructure but will also deliver project management services for roll out, supply and services of third party solutions, network implementation and care services. Nokia Siemens Networks will also provide IDEA Cellular with GPRS and SMSC equipment in the Mumbai circle.

The network will be ready for commercial operations by early 2008; subject to spectrum availability.

In 2007, this is the second contract IDEA Cellular has awarded Nokia Siemens Networks, the previous one being a two year US$500 million GSM network expansion contract to expand Idea Cellular's GSM / GPRS / EDGE networks to cover population centres across the six circles of Delhi, Haryana, UP East, UP West, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala.

This is the 4th managed services contract for Nokia Siemens Networks in India, where it runs a Global Network Operations Center in Chennai.

Posted to the site on 18th December 2007

Yes, looking slightly healthier now, pleased I hung on.
2517