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Hallo Jungs und Mädels! Die Washington Post hat am 08.07.02 über Talk America berichtet, hier der Artikel: +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Talk America Stock Outperforms the Big Telecoms Monday, July 8, 2002; Page E11 Talk America Holdings Inc., the region`s best-performing stock in the first half of the year, is an unlikely survivor of the telecommunications crash. When other companies were investing billions to build nationwide networks and become Wal-Marts of communications, Talk America was more like a factory outlet, buying surplus long-distance capacity from the big players and reselling at retail. It`s not that the changes in telecommunications haven`t caused Talk America to rethink how it does business, though. What started as a strictly long-distance reseller has evolved. "By 1999 we had a profitable long-distance company," chief executive Gabriel Battista said. "You can`t do that anymore. There`s too much competition, so we`ve transformed the company." Now Talk America has moved into the residential-service business, again leasing lines in bulk from the big phone companies and retailing them at discount prices. That strategy is not as sexy as owning a network, but it makes money. "We were never in love with facilities," Battista said. While competitors with lots of capital started building their networks first, then went looking for customers, "we rejected the field-of-dreams approach," he said. "We got the customers first." Talk America has nearly 250,000 local-service customers, most of them in eight states where tough local regulations ensure that local phone companies offer lines to resellers at competitive prices. This quarter, Battista said, Talk America expects to report revenue of $37 million to $40 million from its bundled local and long-distance services, and total revenue approaching $80 billion. The company`s stock price started to climb after the business turned a small profit in the final quarter of last year and took off after Talk America made $8.1 million (10 cents a share) in the first quarter this year. Talk America stock, up from 41 cents a share to $4.13 in the first half of the year, remains highly speculative and highly volatile. In the final week of the second quarter ended June 30, the share price jumped to $4.13 from $2.98, gaining 65 cents on June 27. But last Tuesday, it dropped 61 cents a share, and closed Friday at $3.45. Far and away the region`s best performer in the first half with a 907 percent gain, Talk America is one of the worst performers so far this quarter, down 16 percent in four days. Jerry Knight © 2002 The Washington Post Company ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ |
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| aus der Diskussion: | Talk America |
| Autor (Datum des Eintrages): | marrocco (10.07.02 09:47:18) |
| Beitrag: | 56 von 216 (ID:6840708) |
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