Technology stocks dominated last year's share price performance charts, according to the Financial Times. It found that eight of the top 10 shares came from either the telecommunications or information technology-related businesses.

Technology shares were ranked in the top five places, easily beating the financial stocks. The winner was Italian group Olivetti which has transformed itself into a telecoms service provider after making losses for four years. German telecoms group Mannesmann has a 10 per cent stake in it.

Next on the list was Britain's Colt Telecom, an alternative telecoms provider, to which pundits sometimes compare Esat Telecom. Colt has still to make a profit or to pay a dividend and like Esat ploughs its money back into the business. Its sales in 1997 were £81 million sterling (#103 million), but analysts are forecasting sales for this year of £200 million, rising to £700 million in 2000. A pretty breathtaking pace.