Subject:  Cell phone company earnings drop (guru)
Date:     Thu, 3 Feb 2000 092105 -0600 (CST)
From:     "Roy L. Beavers" 
To:       emfguru 
--------------------------------------------------


.......In the following news item we read that British Telecom
experienced a drop in earnings during the last quarter of 1999.

Corporate press releases are well known for the extent to which
they "spin" the news ... rather than "report" the news..... 
It may, therefore, be a good idea to read the following with an eye 
toward what has been left out.....  

During the past six months to a year in Britain, the British people have
been exposed to a spate of news items about the possible harm that can
come from "excessive" use of the cell phone.....  Some of the public may
be taking heed??!!

I think it a good idea to watch the earnings reports of other cell phone
companies at this time as well.....!!  Also, now is perhaps a good time
to "take your profits" in whatever telecom company stock you may own.....

Cheerio......

Roy Beavers (EMFguru)
roy@emfguru.com

.....It is better to light a single candle than to curse the darkness.....
                    NEW!!! Website... http://emfguru.com
...................People are more important than profits.................

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05:51 PM ET 02/02/00

British Telecom's Profit Falls

           LONDON (AP) _ British Telecommunications PLC's earnings dropped
23 percent in the third quarter and the company announced plans to
eliminate 3,000 jobs, or 10 percent of its managerial work force.
Its stock price tumbled.
           Britain's biggest phone company blamed reduced charges for
telephone calls, lower margins in wholesale business with other
operators, the cost of developing new services and new investments
in Japan, Canada and the United States for the profit drop reported
Wednesday.
           British Telecom shares closed down 18 percent in London trading.
           It earned 453 million pounds, or $729 million, in the three
months ended Dec. 31, down from 592 million pounds a year earlier.
           Revenue rose to 5.6 billion pounds, or $9 billion, from 4.7
billion pounds in the same period of 1998.
           For the first nine months, BT's earnings fell to 1.6 billion
pounds, or $2.6 billion, from 2.4 billion pounds a year earlier.
           Nine-month revenue rose to 15.9 billion pounds, or $25.6
billion, from 13.3 billion pounds a year earlier.
           Excluding a gain of 1.1 billion pounds, or $1.77 billion, on the
sale of BT's interest in MCI Communications Corp. in the previous
year, pretax profits edged down to 2.36 billion pounds, or $3.8
billion, for the first nine months from 2.40 billion pounds a year
earlier.
           The company said its plan to reduce the number of its managers
would be accomplished within 9 months at a cost of 350 billion
pounds.
           ``Growth prospects in the U.K. and internationally remain good
but we face increasing competition as the globalization of our
industry continues,'' said BT's chairman, Sir Iain Vallance.
           ``In this quarter, competitive pressures have adversely affected
operating margins in the U.K. fixed voice telephony market. The
results also reflect the costs of meeting increased customer demand
and of growing new areas of business.''
        
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k



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Reprinted with permission of Roy Beavers, http://www.emfguru.com