STOCK WATCH

Macromedia

Software developer Macromedia has posted a 51 per cent increase in revenue for its first quarter and struck a deal with IBM subsidiary Lotus. Macromedia reported revenue of $48.9m for the first quarter ended 30 June, while profit increased by 50 per cent to $43.9m.

Alcatel

French telecoms vendor Alcatel said high growth in its internet-related business helped boost its second-quarter turnover by 7.3 per cent, despite weak sales of narrow band products.

AT&T

AT&T has posted a profit of $1.58bn and revenue which increased by 6.7 per cent to $15.8bn, compared with the same period last year, in its second quarter ended 30 June. AT&T also forged closer ties with Microsoft, after the software giant agreed to take a $5bn stake in the telco as part of a set-top box licensing deal for its Windows CE portable OS.

CM Distribution

CM Distribution saw profit and sales fall for the six months ended 31 March, due to falling component prices. The Cheshire distributor recorded pre-tax profit of £600,000, down on last year's £800,000. This included an exceptional item of £100,000, which resulted from legal proceedings settled out of court with Microsoft. Turnover dropped to £11.08m, against £12.66m the year before.

eBay

Online auction house eBay beat Wall Street's expectations by a penny for its second quarter, despite a 22-hour outage during the period.