STOCK WATCH

Dell

Dell recorded net income of $384 million, up from $248 million in the third quarter to 1 November, representing a 55 per cent surge in profits, boosted by strong Asian demand. Revenue was $4.8 billion, 51 per cent up from $3.2 billion a year ago. Dell's sales in Europe rose 68 per cent while sales in Asia grew by 49 per cent.

Merisel

Merisel has posted its third-quarter results ending 30 September. They revealed net profit of $7.6 million, a recovery from the $9.1 million loss for the same period last year. Turnover was #1.1 billion, up from $965.2 million. Merisel cited its Sun Microsystems division and Canadian sales as spurs.

Sharp

Sharp has rocked the market with a 78 per cent dive in profits for its first half ending 30 September. Profits collapsed to Y7.87 billion from Y36.58 billion. Sharp blamed the collapse of semiconductor prices and the LCD market.

Easdaq

A complaint from the European stock exchange Easdaq has prompted the European Commission to investigate the Paris and Milan stock exchanges. Easdaq claims the French and Italian governments are offering tax breaks to companies that float on their stock exchanges, thereby contravening European Union laws on the free movement of services.

BT

BT has posted its half-year results to 30 September revealing pre-tax profits of #2.6 billion, climbing from #1.5 billion last time. This was aided by an exceptional gain of #1.1 billion from the sale of its interests in MCI to WorldCom. Turnover climbed by 10 per cent to #8.64 billion.

Prism Leisure

Prism Leisure, distributor of games and leisure titles is undergoing a management buyout. Directors have made a cash offer of 75p per share, valuing the company at #6.53 million.

Konami

Japanese games giant Konami is to float on the London Stock Exchange by March 1999. It will be the first Japanese game publisher to enter the FTSE.

Sprint

US telecoms company Sprint launched the second largest bond in history on 10 November. Proceeds from the $5 billion bond will re-finance US bank debts, saving Sprint around $100 million.

E-bay

The flotation of E-bay, the US internet auction house, has become one of the most successful in stock market history. Following September flotation at $18, shares doubled on the first day and then climbed to $130. The rise marks a market capitalisation of $5.2 billion from its original flotation value of #700 million.

Computron

Computron Software has stabilised performance with the announcement of results for the third quarter ending 30 September. Profits were $52,000 compared to a loss of $7.9 million for the same period in 1997. Sales rose by 0.3 per cent to $16.2 million in the quarter. Over the nine months sales dropped from $49.7 million to $46 million.

PSDI

PSDI, the asset maintenance software company, saw a 25 per cent climb in profits to $5 million and a 29 per cent climb in sales to $35.4 million for the fourth quarter ending 30 September. Its year-end results were with net profits of $15.4 million on turnover of $120 million.