ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, December 21, 1996 TAG: 9612230042
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: A-7 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MAG POFF STAFF WRITER
Optical Cable Corp., the Roanoke maker of fiber-optic communication cables, was confused with another company in a national report and made a little ripple in the financial markets.
The U.S. division of Reuters printed earnings for Optical Coating Laboratory Inc., a Santa Rosa, Calif., maker of film, but labeled it as a report for Optical Cable. The report made it appear that Optical Cable's earnings had dropped. The companies have similar stock market symbols.
Optical Cable expects to report its earnings in the last week of this month or first week of January. The company's chairman, Robert Kopstein, said he was concerned investors sold shares based on the report.
"I can't see where anything happened" to Optical Cable's stock, said William Nash, manager of the Roanoke office of Scott & Stringfellow Inc. That brokerage worked on the company's initial stock offering earlier this year.
Nash didn't even know about Thursday's false report. He said Friday that brokers get their information from the Dow Jones wire while most local shareholders read their financial news in The Roanoke Times. Neither carried the Reuters report.
"You've got to jump through hoops to see Reuters," Nash said.
About 68,900 shares were traded Thursday compared with 45,000 or 50,000 daily recently, but still short of the 121,600 shares traded Dec. 16 when the company issued a statement projecting high 1996 and 1997 earnings.
The shares ranged Thursday between $11.25 and $12.50, closing at $11.75. Nash said the company was as low as the $11.25 figure as recently as Dec. 12.
LENGTH: Short : 36 linesby CNB