Around the Traps ... with THE FERRET08:23, Tuesday, 29 August...

Around the Traps ... with THE FERRET
08:23, Tuesday, 29 August 2006

Sydney - Tuesday - August 29: (RWE Australian Business News) -
*****************************

WOTIF.COM (WTF) delivered in spades and justified all that heavy
buying after listing in June, particularly by CBA, which has built a
stake of 12.5 per cent.

Wotif lifted year net profit 36.5 per cent to $23.2 million,
which also beat the prospectus forecast of $22.5 million.

EPS was up 37.3 per cent to 8.1c and ahead of the prospectus
forecast of 7.7c.

Wotif floated at $2 a share and opened at $3.06 on listing day
on June 2, later climbing as high as $4.03 on July 13.

The shares touched $3.90 after the result was announced
yesterday before closing at $3.70, down 15c.

At that price the stock is on a p/e of almost 46 times.

That's huge, about three times the market average.

All those heavy buyers of the stock must be confident of
continuing stellar growth in the company.

The company would have to lift its profit by 37 per cent for the
next three years running to get EPS to a figure where it would give the
stock a market average p/e (and that doesn't take into account any new
share issues).

*****

So how is the company travelling?

Wotif.com said yesterday its trading performance had remained
strong in July and to date in August.

Room nights sold in July were up more than 45 per cent on the
same month last year, and August to date growth is up more than 50 per
cent.

Well, that's better than the 37 per cent we talked about above.

Managing director Graeme Wood noted that caution should be used
in extrapolating from the year-to-date sales as Wotif.com was
approaching the period in which it extended the booking window from 14
to 28 days (introduced October 2005).

He said it was uncertain whether the current level of growth
would continue once the October period was reached, given the strong
growth experienced post-October 2005 following the booking window
extension.

*****

There must have been a hidden message in the SANDFIRE RESOURCES
(SFR) announcement yesterday because it sure fired up the market,
boosting the shares 15c to 70c before closing at 66.5c.

Coming back from a two-day trading halt the company announced a
previously authorised grant of options and a placement.

The company formalised an agreement to purchase mining tenements
(in the locality of Borroloola) from Nicholas Paspaley in consideration
for the grant of 5.4 million options, exercisable at 60c before June 30
next year.

It also placed 8 million shares with institutional and
sophisticated investors at 55c each, raising $4.4 million.

This makes the company fully funded to undertake the planned
comprehensive reconnaissance exploration program at the now expanded
Borroloola project.

Borroloola may have been behind yesterday's splurge but there
has already been a run due to this, following an announcement on August
10 lumping together "positive results" from Yannarie, Mt Boggola, Urandy
and Borroloola projects.

Sandfire rose from 50c to as high as 60c that day before
settling at 55c.

*****

It must be the excitement that's getting to shareholders of VPH
(VPH).

The shares hit 30c on Friday morning and closed at 20c, down 6c.

Yesterday the stock jumped right back, by 10c to 30c.

The company is sending out notices for a September 22 meeting to
cover a range of resolutions to deal with the proposed change of focus
of the company's activities to the resources sector.

VPH plans to acquire interests in and develop mineral projects
in the Democratic Republic of Congo, change its name to Lindian
Resources, earn an interest in the Tshikapa Diamond Project in the
Congo, and issue a prospectus to raise $1.5 million through 5 million
30c shares.

*****

COMMANDER COMMUNICATIONS (CDR) was on a high yesterday after
announcing that underlying EBITDA of $60.1 million for the year had
exceeded guidance of $55 to $59 million and was up 24 per on 2005.

Not only that, it also forecast underlying EBITDA of $95 to $101
million for 2007.

It's not often you get a company announcing a big profit rise
and immediately predicting an even bigger rise for the year ahead - a
rise of at least 58 per cent and possibly as high as 68 per cent.

The shares should have been killed in the rush.

They were, at first, shooting up 29c to $2.10 before closing at
$1.99.

The fact that the bottom-line, for-announcement-to-market result
was down 4 per cent to $28.9 million may have taken the sting out of the
buying spree.

(Comments and complaints to [email protected] - no requests
for advice please.)

ENDS