MARKETS
ThirdForce explains massive stock surge
20-01-2004
by
ISE listed e-learning company ThirdForce said on Tuesday that it is in possible acquisition talks, but the company kept all details a secret.
In a statement, the company said it was in discussions with a private company in a "complementary business" and those discussions "may or not lead to that company being acquired by ThirdForce."
"In the event that the acquisition proceeds, full details will be provided to shareholders, however it would not be of a size which would require prior shareholder approval," the statement continued.
The brief comments came in response to a dramatic upward shift in the company's stock in recent days.
In London, the firm's shares were up over 5 percent to STG0.30 after lunchtime on Tuesday. More impressive changes were seen over the three previous trading days, with ThirdForce's stock price in London swelling from STG0.17 on 15 January to STG0.31 on 19 January. Volumes topped 79,000 on all three days, compared to nil volumes on eight of the nine trading days prior to 15 January.
On the Irish Stock Exchange, the trend was similar, with ThirdForce shares rising from about EUR0.22 on 15 January to about EUR0.44 as the market opened on 19 January. On the following day, ThirdForce had slipped EUR0.04 to around EUR0.40 just after lunchtime.
In November, ThirdForce, a specialist in on-line computer training courses and computer literacy testing, posted improved annual results following an acquisition of Irish company Electric Paper in March 2003. The company said that turnover over the 12 months to September was up 20 percent to EUR3.97 million, with Electric Paper contributing EUR2.24 million to that figure. Net losses improved by 11.3 percent to EUR1.56 million.
ThirdForce employs over 60 people in Ireland, and about 20 in the UK, Australia, the US and Canada.
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