Article Abstract:
Third World telephone companies are attractive to American investors, who bet that newly privatized companies will improve service and that weak economies will strengthen. Telefonos de Mexico S.A (Telmex), for example, has become a super-stock, with American depositary receipts (ADRs) soaring to a high $38.25 a share after the Mexican government publicly issued $2.5 billion worth of shares at $27.25 each in May 1991. First World nations such as New Zealand, Australia, Denmark and the Netherlands are trying to cash in as well, with mixed results. Earnings for Japan's Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corp, which went public in 1987, fell 14 percent in the year ended Mar 1991. Privatizing Telmex was a move intended to help open the economy; in Spain, where the government continues to cap Telefonica de Espana S.A.'s profit and still holds 25 percent of the company, ADRs languish at $28 each. A key issue facing phone companies in developing countries is whether a flood of privatizations of sophisticated First World operators will crowd out their stock offerings.
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Article Abstract:
Hollywood's conservative entertainment industry traditionally shuns technological innovations, but possibilities engendered by the convergence of computer- and television-related technologies are generating widespread interest and excitement. Movies on demand, teleshopping, video games and educational services are envisioned, and interactive multimedia capabilities are likely to bring other services into being that are entirely new. U S West Inc, the regional telephone company, has agreed to buy 25 percent of Time Warner Inc's movie-studio and cable-TV operations in a deal worth $2.5 billion. The deal is seen as the first of many such alliances among computer, communications and entertainment companies.
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Article Abstract:
Zenith Electronics' stock price rises $7.125 dollar to $22.875 during trading at the New York Stock Exchange on May 6, 1996, a 45% increase that analysts attribute to the company's emergence as a cable modem manufacturer. The 14.6 million shares that were transferred on May 6 are approximately 60 times the company's recent daily average. Market analysts suggest that Zenith's recent agreement with U.S. Robotics to supply cable modems for enhanced Internet access is the primary cause for the increase in market activity. However, some analysts assert that the deal will do little to bolster either company's revenues in 1996 and that the excitement over Zenith's stock may be unwarranted.
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