STOCK WATCH

Intel

Intel's annual net profit fell by 13 per cent to $6.1 billion and annual earnings per share slid 11 per cent to $3.45. Profit in the fourth quarter, ended 26 December 1998, were up 18 per cent to $2.06 billion, exceeding analyst expectations.

1998 was Intel's 12th consecutive year of revenue growth, up to $26.3 billion from $25.1 billion in 1997.

Seagate

Seagate surged past expectations for second-quarter profits and turned in a second consecutive profitable quarter as the effects of last year's restructuring programme were felt. Revenue increased to $1.8 billion for the quarter ended 1 January, up from $1.7 billion the previous year. Profit was $104 million compared with losses of $183 million in the same quarter last year.

Yahoo

Yahoo's fourth quarter generated sales of $76.4 million, up from $26.6 million in the same period last year. Net income was $18.5 million compared with a $1.9 million loss a year ago. For the full year, the company saw revenue of $203.3 million, almost three times higher than the previous year, on profits of $25.6 million, compared with a loss of $25.5 million last year.

MicroAge

MicroAge reported revenue of $1.6 billion for the quarter ended 1 November 1998 - an increase of 19 per cent compared with the same quarter last year and nine per cent compared with the third quarter. Net profit was $3.7 million compared with $7.4 million a year ago.

For the first time, MicroAge revealed results for its distribution business, Pinacor. In the fourth quarter, the distributor earned $24.7 million on $1.4 billion sales.

Action

Henry Lewis, founder and chairman of Action Computer Supplies, has sold almost half his shares in Electronics Boutique. A non-executive director of the high street chain, Lewis raised #202,000 from the sale. He retains a #280,000 stake.

Apax

Apax Partner & Co has sold its shareholding in Computacenter - more than 13 million shares.

Apax still holds more than two million shares, which will be be transferred into Chase Capital's name.

Game

Game, a rising star of the leisure market, had the wind taken out of its sales due to supply problems. The games retailer received only 30 000 PlayStations when it could have sold 45,000. It led to a 3.9 per cent fall in sales and a 37 per cent share crash to its low of 103.5p.