Premier Farnell profit and revenue decline September 19, 2014 BRITISH electronics parts distributor Premier Farnell saw its profits and revenues fall in the first half of the year, but said it was upbeat about hitting full-year targets. Pre-tax profits at the FTSE 250-listed company fell to £36.4m in the six months to 3 August 2014, down 4.5 per cent on £38.1m last year. Revenues [...]
Alibaba share price means it will to smash tech float record September 18, 2014 Chinese e-commerce titan Alibaba last night priced its initial public offering at the top end of expectations, lining it up to raise a colossal $21.8bn (£13.3bn) in what will be the biggest tech float in history today. Alibaba will price its shares at $68 on the New York Stock Exchange, giving the firm a historic [...]
Scots make history with highest ever turnout September 18, 2014 MILLIONS of people poured into Scotland’s polling stations yesterday to decide whether or not it will stay part of the UK, with figures released in the early hours of this morning revealing historically high turnouts. In Clackmannanshire an incredible 88.6 per cent of eligible voters cast their ballots, while in Orkney the figure was 83.7 [...]
Battle not yet over as talks begin after vote September 18, 2014 PRIME Minister David Cameron will be facing some tough questions this morning, following the Scottish referendum vote yesterday. As the ballots were counted overnight, MPs in Westminster began to make their views on further devolution to Scotland clear, even before the result had been announced. Rumblings from the Conservative backbenches have been getting louder over [...]
City traders on 24-hour alert over sterling September 18, 2014 TEAMS of staff at the Treasury, Bank of England, as well as sterling traders across a number of London-based banks were drafted in last night to staff 24-hour desks monitoring the fallout from the Scottish referendum. BNP Paribas, Barclays and Rabobank were among the institutions who staffed currency desks through the night so that their [...]
Monitise tanks by £300m after Visa mulls exit September 18, 2014 FORMER stock-market darling Monitise saw £290m wiped off its market valuation yesterday after its fourth-largest shareholder, Visa International, said it was considering the sale of its stake in the mobile banking firm. The revelation that Visa was “considering its options” for the 5.5 per cent holdings sparked a downwards spiral in the firm’s stock that [...]
Ireland economy booms 7.7 per cent despite ailing recovery in Eurozone September 18, 2014 Ireland’s economy grew by an exceptional 7.7 per cent in the year to June as it apparently missed the news that the recovery was stalling on the continent. Not only was it the fastest annual growth of any Eurozone member, but it had also the fastest quarterly growth at 1.5 per cent, according to the [...]
WANdisco share price falls as investment costs lead to higher losses at online tech firm September 18, 2014 WANdisco, the Sheffield-based firm that specialises in big data products for businesses, saw its shares tumble 5.1 per cent yesterday after reporting its losses had more than doubled during the first half of the year. While revenues rose 43 per cent to $5m (£3m), losses increased from $7.5m to $18.5m as the firm invested $4.2m [...]
Amazon rolls out new tablets and e-readers September 18, 2014 AMAZON ramped up its push into hardware yesterday, with the debut of six new or upgraded mobile devices, including a high-end £169 e-reader called the Kindle Voyage and its cheapest-ever six-inch touch-screen Fire tablet starting at just £79. The online retail giant also revamped its basic Kindle e-reader to include a touch screen at just [...]
UBM in talks for £550m takeover of US Advanstar September 18, 2014 Events and information giant UBM yesterday confirmed it is in takeover talks with US trade show organiser Advanstar, in a deal that might be worth up to $900m (£549m). UBM, which also owns PR Newswire (PRN) and has a market capitalisation of £1.5bn, said in a statement that it “notes recent market speculation concerning [...]