STOCK WATCH

Amshold purchase boosts Viglen

Shares in Viglen Technology shot up by more than 60 per cent when it was revealed that Amshold, in which Alan Sugar has a 100 per cent stake, had purchased 9.7 million shares in the UK PC vendor. The purchase, at 24p per share, takes Amshold's shareholding in Viglen to 41.7 per cent.

The move caused shares in Viglen to rise by 8.75p to 22.75p on 9 October.

Symantec

Symantec has warned that its second-quarter revenue to 2 October will be 10 per cent below target and that earnings per share will be only 18 cents before charges, down on last year's 35 cents. The anti-virus company said last month that revenue for the quarter would be down by about $5 million, citing a federal court restraining order as the main cause.

Acer

Acer is expected to make a loss of about $50 million this year, despite having shifted its focus to selling sub-$1,000 PCs to first-time buyers.

The clone manufacturer has also seen its US market share fall to 3.2 per cent, from its 1995 peak of 5.4 per cent. The vendor recently switched to lower priced models and acknowledged it was unable to compete effectively against manufacturers such as Dell, Compaq and IBM. Acer made a loss of $75 million in 1997.

Bertelsmann

Avid Technology has announced an expected shortfall in revenue for the third quarter of this year, blaming the figures on customers delaying their buying decisions over the quarter. Estimated turnover is between $112 million and $114 million, down on last year's third quarter of $116.5 million. The digital audio and video tools provider's results are expected on 22 October.

Yahoo

Yahoo has proved that the internet industry is ignoring the global financial crisis by turning in good results for its third quarter in the middle of sharp downturns across international markets. It reported net income of $16.6 million up from $681,000 and sales were up to $53.6 million - a 30 per cent climb.

Infogrames

French games publisher Infogrames reported its annual figures ended 30 June, revealing that the gaming industry is also surviving in turbulent times. Sales were reported as FF1,466 million, a climb of 130 per cent. Net profit was FF83.8 million.

Riva

Software supplier Riva saw its turnover grow 11 per cent to #36 million, with profits before tax jumping 84 per cent to #349,000. Riva put the results, for the six months ended 30 June, down to structural changes, such as the merger of the Dutch and Belgian operations.

ECsoft

ECsoft's interim results for the six months ended 30 June showed an increase of 48 per cent to just over #30 million. Operating profits for the consultancy business also went up 86 per cent to almost #3 million. The results follow the January acquisition of Bracknell and Warrington-based consultancy business Level 7. Unconditional trading in ECsoft ordinary shares on the London Stock Exchange started on 1 July.

Novell

Novell's financial year ending on 31 October will reveal that the struggling network company has suffered from flat sales as a result of the economic problems in Asia, falling short of its $100 million target. Novell is having problems in India, Asia and Korea but it expects to grow in Australia and New Zealand. More than 40 per cent of its revenue comes from international sales.

General Electric

General Electric's third quarter net income rose 13 per cent to $2.3 billion for the same period the previous year. Turnover also grew 10 per cent to $24.1 billion. Industry analysts expressed worries that some GE operations, such as GE Capital, could suffer from business failures in Asia.