C&W falls further as warning hits sector

Shares in Cable & Wireless continued to reel from yesterday's earnings warning, sparking steep falls in other British telecoms…

Shares in Cable & Wireless continued to reel from yesterday's earnings warning, sparking steep falls in other British telecoms operators today over margin fears.

C&W fell as much as 15 per cent to a three-and-a-half-year low of 465p today following a 20 per cent slump yesterday, when it said profits would fall short of analysts' expectations this year.

Analysts lowered their price targets and recommendations for C&W almost across the board, with UBS Warburg, Lehman Brothers, Schroder Salomon Smith Barney and HSBC among those taking a more bearish view of the stock, traders said.