Australian technology stocks have taken a savage beating this week, losing far more ground than the All Ordinaries Index, which itself had its worst day for more than a year on Monday with a 2.3% slide. Communications stocks were down an average of 13.1%, software listings by 9.4%, and internet stocks by 9.1%, according to figures released by Deutsche Bank. Newer listings were the biggest losers, with LibertyOne, Spike Networks, Adacel and SecureNet all suffering double-digit drops.
Local analysts were predicting further falls, particularly with the newer stocks which have been listed for less than a year and many of which had hugely-successful IPOs. With newer technology stocks people are starting to reassess what management has been saying, one analyst said. If you look at the forecast sales growth into 2000 of a lot of these stocks, you get figures like 195%, 187%, and 245%. This compares with growth forecasts of 17% for small industrials and 14% for telcos.
