I can't seem to recreate your problem...
/ Mail: 0 / Tue Nov 12 14:39 /
~ $ cat concat.pl
$st1 = "12";
$st2 = "08";
$result = $st1 . $st2;
print "\n", $result, "\n\n";
/ Mail: 0 / Tue Nov 12 14:39 /
~ $ perl concat.pl
1208
/ Mail: 0 / Tue Nov 12 14:39 /
~ $
Can you post a running example of the code not working as intended?
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DamnDirtyApe
Those who know that they are profound strive for clarity. Those who
would like to seem profound to the crowd strive for obscurity.
--Friedrich Nietzsche