BlackBerry launches the $200 Jakarta in Barcelona February 25, 2014 BlackBerry has announced the launch of BlackBerry Jakarta, its first phone made in partnership with Foxconn, at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. There was some initial confusion as to the name of the device when the company said pictures of the Z3 would be out soon. BlackBerry CEO John Chen told the Congress: We’re [...]
St James’s Place eyes up Asian business as profits jump February 25, 2014 Wealth management group St James’s Place has announced a 42 per cent increase in profit before shareholder tax to £190.7m in 2013. The FTSE 250 firm saw total new single investment rise 22 per cent to £7.2bn, with funds under management up 27 per cent to £44.3bn. It said its full-year dividend increased 50 per [...]
What you need to know before the open February 25, 2014 European markets are set for a subdued start today, taking a breather after the rally seen over the past three weeks. Sentiment remains bullish, though, with several key indices hitting key levels. The FTSE 100, DAX and CAC are all expected lower at the open. A positive day on Wall Street yesterday, along with better-than-expected [...]
Ladbrokes to close 50 shops as profits dive February 25, 2014 Bookmaker Ladbrokes has reported a collapse in profit before tax of 66 per cent to £67m for the year ended 31 December. The company has been hit hard by tax changes to gaming machines and the rising cost of horse racing picture rights. Richard Glynn, chief executive, commented: While our financial results for 2013 were disappointing, [...]
Persimmon profits more than double on booming demand February 25, 2014 Another house builder riding the wave of surging demand. Following bumper results from Bovis yesterday, Persimmon has said this morning that its profit before tax more than doubled in 2013. The 54.5 per cent increase to £337.1m came about as the group “responded quickly” to growing customer demand, outperforming its original long term plan. Chairman Nicolas [...]
MtGox shuts down in fresh blow for Bitcoin February 25, 2014 MtGox, one of the world's largest Bitcoin exchanges, has suspended trading and taken its website offline, as well as erasing the company's twitter account. This follows the resignation of the exchange's chief executive Mark Karpeles, on Sunday. The Financial Times reports that a document circulated online says the exchange has lost a staggering 744,000 Bitcoins [...]
Asian shares jump after bullish day on Wall Street February 25, 2014 Asian shares a regaining some momentum after a bullish day on Wall Street helped ease fears over Chinese credit contraction. An unexpected rise in German business sentiment provided further reason for optimism over the Eurozone recovery. The Nikkei has jumped 1.4 per cent while the Hong Kong Hang Seng Index is up a more modest [...]
Any Other Business – 25/02 February 25, 2014 HSBC lifted the gates yesterday and let its wave of financial reportage wash over analysts, investors, journos and anyone else interested enough to wade through 31 separate releases. Part of the flotsam and jetsam that washed up on the shore was the 598-page annual report – bigger and beefier than last year (2012’s report was [...]
Markets hit fresh highs February 24, 2014 BOOMING stocks hit fresh highs on both sides of the Atlantic yesterday as upbeat investors kept on pumping cash into equities, fuelled by economic recovery and low interest rates. The surge in stocks follows a flood of merger and takeover activity, with Facebook’s $19bn (£11.4bn) buyout of messaging service Whatsapp last week setting the tone [...]
WhatsApp voice service to challenge mobile carriers February 24, 2014 WHATSAPP, the messaging app bought by Facebook last week, yesterday announced it will take on mobile operators with a new voice capability, while Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg admitted that the firm could be worth far more than the $19bn (£11.4bn) he paid for it. “I actually just think that by itself it’s worth much [...]