VERISIGN FALLS FROM GRACE, ILLUMINET FOLLOWS

In early afternoon activity on the Nasdaq stock market, shares of VeriSign fell $5 to $41.50. Shares of Illuminet Holdings Inc. which VeriSign is in the process of buying, followed close behind falling $4.60, also just under 11 percent, to $38.50.

Munster also set a new 12-month price target of $55, down from $70.

``We believe that VeriSign's registrar business has lost, albeit small amounts, of market share following September 30, 2001,'' Munster wrote.

``With (lower) pricing offered by registrar competitors, we have come to the conclusion that, absent retail price reductions, VeriSign could continue to see market small share losses in .com, .net and .org domain names in the near to intermediate terms.''

Long-term, the company's outlook is bright because of its deferred revenue, cash flow, franchise business and new initiatives, including sales of new .biz and .info domain names, Munster said.

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