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            B R E A K F A S T   W I T H   T H E   F O O L
                      Wednesday, November 29, 2000

benjamin.rogers@enron.com
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ADC'S SOLID Q4
Broadband equipment company ADC reported strong growth in Q4.

By LouAnn Lofton

Broadband networking equipment maker ADC (Nasdaq: ADCT) reported
fourth-quarter and fiscal year-end results yesterday after the
market's close. Strong broadband connectivity sales led to net
income growth (excluding charges) of 94%, beating estimates.

ADC's sales for the fourth quarter were $1.03 billion, ahead of
last year's $634 million by 63%. Pro forma operating income
increased 121% to $206 million, from $93 million. Pro forma net
income for the quarter was $138 million versus the year-ago $71
million. On a per-share basis, ADC earned $0.18. Analysts as
polled by First Call/Thompson Financial expected $0.17 a share.

ADC's broadband connectivity sales grew 102% compared to last
year. The company's international sales increased 63% to $227
million. North America and Europe continue to be ADC's largest
sales regions.

Looking ahead to the next fiscal year, ADC expects full-year
earnings per share to be between $0.68 and $0.70, which is
in-line with current estimates. The company sees its sales for
the year coming in between $4.15 billion and $4.30 billion. ADC
does expect first-quarter earnings to come in shy of current
estimates by a penny. The company pointed to seasonal trends as
the reason for this.

ADC's chairman and CEO, William J. Cadogan, said of the results,
"We were firing on all cylinders as each of our three major
business groups and international hit all-time high sales in the
quarter. Our outstanding employees were key contributors in ADC
surpassing the significant milestone of one billion dollars in
sales for the first time in a quarter." News to Go
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NEWS TO GO

Argentinians won't be getting any more Wendy's (NYSE: WEN) Spicy
Chicken Sandwiches starting soon. The fast-food company said
yesterday that it is immediately closing all 18 of its
restaurants in Argentina. They've been unprofitable for more
than a year. The company will take a onetime charge in the
fourth quarter of between $17 million and $22 million, or
$0.08-0.11 a share. CEO Jack Schuessler said, "The economic and
competitive conditions we faced in Argentina were just too
difficult to overcome, despite the efforts of our management
team and a dedicated crew at the stores."

Internet consulting company iXL (Nasdaq: IIXL) said on Tuesday
that it will lay off 850 employees and close seven offices. iXL
cut 350 jobs back in September. The latest round of job cuts
represent about 35% of iXL's staff. iXL will take a charge in
the fourth quarter for the restructuring, and expects to be
profitable by early 2001. The company has about 300 clients, and
says it plans to start focusing heavily on its top 75 clients.
Bill Getch, an iXL spokesman, said, "Our larger clients, they
want deeper engagements.... But they're taking much more time to
select and contract a lot of that work. So the sales cycle has
extended. If you've built a large infrastructure and the sales
cycle has lengthened... then you either increase the pipeline
fast enough to sustain that infrastructure or you reduce that
infrastructure."

Pork processor Smithfield Foods (NYSE: SFD) reported
second-quarter earnings yesterday. The company's net income
doubled to $44.6 million, or $0.81 a share, from last year's
$22.2 million, or $0.48 a share. Smithfield, therefore, beat the
consensus estimate of $0.77 a share. The company's results were
driven by live hog prices that were 20% higher in the second
quarter than they were in the previous second quarter. Sales
increased to $1.4 billion from $1.2 billion in the year-ago
period.

BFGoodrich (NYSE: GR) is selling its performance materials
division to an investor group for $1.4 billion, the company said
today. This completes BFGoodrich's move from a tire and chemical
company to an industrial products and aerospace company.
BFGoodrich will get $1.2 billion in cash and $200 million in
debt securities for the business. Possible uses for the proceeds
from the sale are debt repayment, acquisitions, and share
repurchases, according to the company.

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