Late News (20 August)
- Datrontech?s share price continued to tumble this week, dropping to 76.5p on 18 August ? its lowest price since the company?s flotation two years ago. There has been growing speculation that the distributor will be a victim of a takeover because its share price is so low (PC Dealer, 13 August).
- Hewlett Packard?s figures for its third quarter, ended 31 July, were hit by higher cost of sales, but the manufacturer?s pre-tax profit showed a slight increase to $617 million on a turnover of $10.5 billion. HP chairman and CEO Lew Platt said he was disappointed with the profit levels.
- Computer consumable company Orion Group has received a #31 million cash injection from the Royal Bank of Scotland?s development capital arm to finance its continued growth and overseas expansion.
- Microvitec has issued another profit warning ? its fifth in a year ? with losses for the first six months, ended 30 June, of #2.9 million on turnover of #20.9 million. Shares fell 1.5p to 16p per share after the figures were released.
- Oracle?s object-oriented development tool Sedona, which was put on hold in June, has been killed off by by the company. Oracle plans to put some of the middleware and the repository into its Development/2000 product.
- WH Smith Group is holding an extraordinary meeting on 20 August to give the retailer the power to buy back its shares.
- Newbury-based Lan and remote access distributor DMST has been appointed an authorised Shiva distributor.
- Virgin Internet closed down a Web site containing a shoot ?em up game called Dunblane Massacre following investigations by the Sunday Times.