AccessMyLibrary provides FREE access to over 30 million articles from top publications available through your library.
Create a link to this page
Copy and paste this link tag into your Web page or blog:
Byline: Michael Clark
Nov. 14--The buyers came pouring back in for British Telecom today ahead of Monday's demerger of mobile phones arm mm02.
In heavy trading, they pushed the price 18 pence higher to 338 1/2 pence as more than 40 million shares changed hands. On the grey market, mm02 rose 4 1/2 pence to 80 1/2 pence while what will become the rump of the business, BT Group, rose 10 pence to 258 pence on a when-issued basis.
Because of its size, mm02, with a price tag of UKpound 6.1 billion, will automatically become a constituent of the Footsie 100. It just remains to see who takes the drop to make way for it. Those companies most vulnerable were pulling out all the stops today. They include British Airways, up 12 1/2 pence at 181 pence, GKN, 10 pence better at 291 1/2 pence and United Business Media, ahead 24 pence at 542 1/2 pence.
They liked the results from Cable & Wireless, which was the best performer among the top 100 companies, rising 27 pence to 373 pence. Profits were down but the market warmed to news of a special dividend and shares buyback. After all, it has about UKpound 5 billion on deposit at the bank. The City is still patiently waiting to see what it spends the money on.