STOCK WATCH

Fayrewood

UK holding company Fayrewood is seeking to make further distributor acquisitions in Europe after interim profits almost doubled. Fayrewood, which owns distributors Interface Solutions, ComputerLinks and Banque Magnetique, posted a 98 per cent rise in pre-tax profit to #961,000 for the six months ended 31 October. Turnover also soared for the AIM-listed company, leaping 167 per cent to #54.1 million.

Ericsson

Ericsson's share price nose-dived last week after the vendor warned that 1998 profits would fall below expectations and substantial job cuts were to follow in the New Year.

Sven-Christer Nilsson, chief executive of Ericsson, told analysts in Sweden that profit and sales for 1998 would be somewhat below market expectations when they are announced next January, blaming the anticipated shortfall on the continuing global financial crisis.

RBR

RBR Networks has cited its single-vendor focus as the reason for its annual turnover increase of about 100 per cent. Turnover rose from $26 million to $47 million and points to year-on-year growth of 175 per cent over the past five years.

CCM Distribution

CCM Distribution has announced pre-tax profit of #1.36 million for its financial year ended 30 September, down from #1.93 million the year before. Turnover for the period was #22.7 million, down slightly from #22.53 million in the previous year. The computer components distributor, which floated on AIM in July, said it would focus its energies on expanding the business through different product lines.

Oracle

Oracle has posted net income of $274 million for its second quarter ended 30 November, up 46 per cent on $187 million for the same period last year. Revenue increased 27 per cent to $2.1 billion, up from $1.6 billion a year earlier.

National Semiconductor

National Semiconductor has recorded a net loss of $48.6 million for its second quarter ended 29 November, compared with a net income of $28.9 million a year ago. Revenue was down from $719.9 million in the second quarter of 1997 to $510.1 million. Including a one-time charge following the cancellation of National Semiconductor's foundry agreement with IBM and restructuring costs, the company reported a net loss of $94.4 million for the period.