Sky and Virgin finish TV deal July 13, 2010 British Sky Broadcasting and Virgin Media yesterday announced Sky has completed the acquisition of its rival’s television unit VMtv, following regulatory approval in Ireland. VMtv has now been re-named the Living TV Group. Sky has paid Virgin Media an initial £105m, with up to £55m extra to be paid after it gains UK regulatory clearance. [...]
BMW driven to hike 2010 sales outlook July 13, 2010 Germany’s BMW raised its 2010 pretax profit and sales outlook yesterday, citing better-than-expected earnings at its automotive business and buoyant luxury car markets around the world. Shares in BMW and archrival Daimler jumped on the news as robust demand for high-performance autos like the BMW Z4 roadster and the new 5-series continues to rebound from [...]
Jonathan Ross transfer boosts ITV’s appeal July 13, 2010 BRANDINDEX aITV’s World Cup campaign did not start well. Customers viewing England’s opening game against the United States in high-definition (that ITV had marketed to them) found that their picture cut to a car advertisement moments before Steven Gerrard put England ahead. ITV’s BrandIndex Buzz score dropped from +8 the day before the match (11 [...]
Essar Energy buys Indian power project July 13, 2010 ESSAR ENERGY, part of the conglomerate Essar Group, has signed a deal to buy Indian power project, Navabharat Power. Under the deal, the Indian owned company will initially acquire 76 per cent of Navabharat’s equity. The remaining 24 per cent will be purchased after a number of project milestones are completed, said Essar Energy. Navabharat [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS July 13, 2010 CABLE & WIRELESS Morgan Stanley initiates coverage of Cable & Wireless (CWC) at “equal-weight” with a 72p price target. Morgan Stanley said that although it acknowledges that CWC has improved operating performance it sees better upside elsewhere in the sector. Beyond the dividend yield valuation does not look compelling, believes Morgan Stanley. L’OREAL UBS reiterates [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS July 13, 2010 Barclays Corporate Barclays’ corporate banking arm has appointed Colin Nutt as a vice chairman with responsibility for its financial institutions business. Nutt, who was previously head of financial institutions at the bank, will be tasked with growing the business within the group, including exploring new opportunities among the Barclays Capital client base as part of [...]
Inflation falls to 3.2pc July 13, 2010 THE consumer prices index (CPI) has fallen from 3.4 per cent to 3.2 per cent in June, official figures have shown. That is still well above the Bank of England’s inflation target of two per cent. Meanwhile the Retail Prices Index – which includes mortgage and council tax payments – came down from 5.1 per [...]
Barclays hires bankers for Asia business July 13, 2010 BARCLAYS has hired six senior bankers in Singapore for its wealth management business, including Soh Chye Guan from HSBC, as it seeks to tap into growing numbers of high net worth individuals in Southeast Asia. The move comes after the bank, which managed £151.2bn globally under its wealth management arm Barclays Wealth, poached three senior [...]
Burberry revenue up 24 per cent July 13, 2010 BURBERRY has beaten beat forecasts with a 24 per cent rise in first-quarter underlying revenue. The luxury retailer made £282m of revenue, excluding a restructuring at its Spanish arm, in the three months ended June, led by growth in Asia and the rest of Europe. Sales at the group’s retail outlets rose an underlying 16 [...]
Flybe and Air France agree tie-up July 13, 2010 Flybe and Air France have agreed a tie-up to give their passengers access to more routes. Flybe passengers wil have access to five additional routes between the UK and France as well as seven new domestic French routes and 11 international routes from the autumn. Meanwhile Air France will be able to use 45 new [...]