Skype’s new owners must ring up profit September 1, 2009 OBSERVERS are questioning the $2.75bn (£1.7bn) valuation placed on Skype, the free computer-to-computer video and voice call operator, which has so far failed to wow investors despite taking a generation by storm. The service first emerged from its garage roots in 2003, and has been under the arguably careless ownership of eBay since 2005. But [...]
Daniel Stewart hit by revenues slump September 1, 2009 DANIEL Stewart, the corporate advisory and institutional stockbroking firm, saw its pre-tax full-year losses widen to £2.65m from last year’s £2m, as revenues tumbled amid the financial crisis. Revenues slumped by nearly 48 per cent to £4.3m, compared to £8.4m in 2008, despite a rise in client numbers. But chief executive Peter Shea said that [...]
RHJ raises its offer in war for GM’sOpel September 1, 2009 BELGIAN finance investor RHJ International has sweetened its offer in the ongoing bidding war with rival Magna for GM’s Opel, a spokesman for RHJ confirmed yesterday. RHJ has raised its stakes by offering €300m (£263.4m) in cash for a 50.1 per cent stake in Opel and said it would ask for only €3.2bn in state [...]
Lighting up for Paddy Power September 1, 2009 BOOKMAKER Paddy Power yesterday announced it has appointed former Channel Five chief executive Jane Lighting as a non-executive director. Lighting was ousted in April last year and succeeded by her predecessor Dawn Airey. Prior to joining the terrestrial channel Five in 2003, Lighting was chief executive of TV programmer Flextech. Lighting is also a director [...]
Budget carrier SkyEurope falls into bankruptcy September 1, 2009 SLOVAKIAN budget airline SkyEurope has filed for bankruptcy and suspended all flights, the firm said yesterday, after collapsing under the pressure of dwindling revenues in the economic slump. SkyEurope, which was launched in 2001 and served mainly continental Europe, had obtained a three-month creditor protection in Slovakia in June and was trying to restructure and [...]
Vivendi books higher profits despite slump September 1, 2009 ENTERTAINMENT giant Vivendi yesterday said consumers were staying at home in the recession, boosting sales of its pay-TV packages and video games, and helping it to report expectation-beating profits for its second quarter. The Paris-listed firm, which makes smash hit video games such as Guitar Hero, also said its French telecoms business was performing well, [...]
Lloyds secures 1bn in loan guarantees September 1, 2009 LLOYDS Banking Group has reached an agreement with the government to access £1bn of its working capital scheme. The bank, which has taken advantage of the scheme once already this year, will receive a government guarantee on half of the risk relating to a £2.2bn portfolio of short-term corporate loans. Lloyds and Royal Bank of [...]
FAIRTRADE BUCKS September 1, 2009 COFFEEconglomerate Starbucks has announced that from today all of its lattes and cappuccinos will now be verified as Fairtrade. This move is expected to increase the amount of Fairtrade Certified coffee sold in the UK and Ireland by 18 per cent this year. The switch to Fairtrade means Starbucks will contribute £2.5m to small farmers.
Avoid the orange look and follow the golden rules of fake tanning August 31, 2009 WHAT do sunbeds, mustard gas and chimney sweeping have in common? Well, as of last month, they are all listed as certain causes of cancer by the International Agency for Cancer Research, a branch of the World Health Organisation. This move followed the publication of a study which showed that the risk of skin cancer [...]
France to show no mercy in tax probe August 31, 2009 FRANCE will not offer an amnesty to 3,000 of its citizens suspected of using Swiss bank accounts to evade tax on around €3bn (£2.64bn) worth of assets, budget minister Eric Woerth said yesterday. Woerth revealed at the weekend that he had obtained the list of suspected tax evaders and warned that those on the list [...]