Key week ahead for Telecom Eireann investors

Government ministers will be crossing their collective fingers that the Telecom Eireann share price remains firm until private…

Government ministers will be crossing their collective fingers that the Telecom Eireann share price remains firm until private investors get their first chance to sell later this week.

The major institutions and a few private investors - those with established relationships with stockbrokers - have been able to deal in the so-called "grey market" since last Thursday.

However, there is a possibility that there will be a heavy volume of sell orders on Thursday and Friday - after private investors get their share certificates or their nominee account statements - which could force the price down and limit the gains of those hoping to cash in quickly.

Is it fair that private investors have to wait before selling and are forced to watch some of the big institutions taking nice early profits?

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A spokeswoman for BCP Stockbrokers, which only deals with private clients and not institutions, said the system is confusing and unfair to private clients.

"It does seem a little unfair that all clients cannot be treated in the same way as all should really have the same access to the market."

However a spokesman for the Government said the pure logistical ramifications for an offer this size means it would be impossible for retail and institutional investors to get their share allocations at the same time.

"The reality is that the institutions will have confirmation of their allocation before the 572,000 retail investors and that is in accordance with normal market practice. But it must also be stressed that the institutions are dealing on a conditional basis; all dealing could be technically unwound if the share offer were cancelled before July 14th."

The spokesman also pointed out that giving the institutions and a few retail investors access to the so-called "grey market" is also designed to establish a transparent market in the shares.

The spokesman said that without this there would be a non-transparent grey market in the shares, which would leave investors in the dark about the price level before they began dealing themselves.

According to Mr John Kielthy, head of private client stock-broking at NCB, there may be a large number of people under time pressure to sell their shares because of borrowings.

However, he added that he expects the main bulk of selling to be next week as many people will not get their share certificates until late in the day on Thursday or even Friday.

He added that there are only "relatively small numbers" of clients already dealing as only those who opted for share certificates over nominee accounts and who have an established relationship with a broker can deal early. "It is only clients we know well," he says.

Other retail brokers are having problems with the status of the nominee accounts and point out that it means an uneven playing field between different retail investors.

No broker other than Goodbody can actually execute a sale for shares held through the nominee accounts.

Mr Paul McGowan joint managing director at Dolmen Butler Briscoe, said they are advising all their clients to switch from nominee accounts to share certificates.

The problem is that stockbrokers other than Goodbody cannot deal in the nominee accounts and, if a client comes to them, they must fax the order to Goodbody for execution.

According to Mr McGowan this could mean delays of one or even two days in knowing whether your sale has been executed and at what price.

He added that they are advising clients to swap to share certificates which means they will know when they deal and at what price as well as having the added security of being able to stipulate a price minimum below which they do not want the shares sold. He added that some clients who have applied for share certificates have already been dealing - even though this involves a risk if they do not get as many shares as they sought - and that many others are already preparing and have signed all the appropriate forms ahead of next Wednesday, when the certificates and nominee account statements are to be posted out.

A spokesman for Goodbody defended the nominee account dealing service. He said Goodbody will inform brokers within an hour of a deal being done which should be on the same day as the order was given if the market is liquid enough.