Shares in Tiscali rallied strongly yesterday as brokers revised their opinion of the Italian Internet company's purchase of French access provider Liberty Surf.

Tiscali stock surged 10 per cent to #14.49 at midday on the high-tech New Market in Milan, after dropping 5.29 per cent in the previous session on news the company has bought Liberty Surf from its main French and British shareholders, Europ@web and Kingfisher.

A broker said that market operators had done their calculations since Monday's announcement and realised that Tiscali had bought the French company fairly cheaply.

Tiscali executives had also made encouraging earnings forecasts, which included expectations of positive earnings before interest tax, debt and amortisation (EBITDA) at the end of 2001, nine months earlier than previous estimates.