WorldFriends to prove ‘freemium’ model works July 13, 2009 WORLDFriends is coming to London. WorldFriends is one of the world’s largest cross-culture online communities with 2m members from 230 countries. It offers people a high quality environment in which to enjoy “internationally minded” socialising and meeting new friends with common interests, especially in the areas of travel, culture and language learning. Ever since Disney acquired Club [...]
Experian sales rise despite slowdown July 13, 2009 CREDIT information firm Experian yesterday said total revenue growth for the first quarter was up one per cent and its businesses traded in line with expectations, despite tough trading conditions. Experian, best known for running consumer credit checks for banks, said total growth in the three months to end-June was up 1 per cent at [...]
‘Old and tired’ electricity gives Spice hot results July 13, 2009 SPICE, a contractor of outsourced utility services, yesterday said its full year profits soared by 58 per cent, on the back of growing regulatory markets and acquisitions. The company, which also said it had bought ComGroup, the Australian telecoms group, said its pre-tax profit was £32.3m, and that revenue had hit £386m, up 24 per [...]
HAPPY CAMPERS July 13, 2009 HOLIDAY camp group Pontin’s is planning a series of acquisitions, as it revels in a record jump in bookings on the back of cash-strapped holidaymakers opting to stay in the UK. Pontin’s says it has seen a 25 per cent increase in campers this summer and is preparing to appoint City advisers to help the [...]
Turkey and EU sign pipeline deal July 13, 2009 EU countries and Turkey yesterday signed a transit deal for the Nabucco gas pipeline, aimed at cutting Europe’s energy dependence on Russia, a major political step backers say will boost the project. Transit countries Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and Austria signed the accord for the €7.9bn European Union and US-backed project, which aims to supply [...]
Third runway is worth 1bn a year to UK July 13, 2009 THE UK’s economy is set to lose between £900m and £1.1bn every year the third runway at Heathrow is delayed, according to a report from the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) said yesterday. The controversial expansion, which was given the go-ahead by the then transport secretary Geoff Hoon in January, could be worth up to [...]
Investors speak out against EU plans for fund regulation July 13, 2009 INSTITUTIONAL investors yesterday rallied behind the hedge fund industry’s efforts to combat the European Commission’s (EC) draft directive on the regulation of funds. The National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF), one of Europe’s most prominent institutional investors, said the directive in its current form would devastate pension schemes across Europe. NAPF chief executive Joanne Segars [...]
Microsoft to launch web-based Office July 13, 2009 MICROSOFT will release three versions of its dominant Office software that users can access over the Web, in the latest salvo in an intensifying war between Microsoft and Google. Microsoft will offer consumers free web-based versions of its Office suite of programmes, including a word processor, spreadsheet and presentation software. The move will see Microsoft [...]
Telegraph owner reports losses of 16m for 2008 July 13, 2009 THE TELEGRAPH Media Group (TMG) yesterday reported a pre-tax loss of £15.7m for the year ending 28 December 2008, hit by a £32.9m charge following its exit last October from a printing deal. Records at Companies House show that TMG, the publisher of the Daily Telegraph, reported a turnover of £343.4m for the year, down [...]
PwC stands firm in huge 40m discrimination case July 13, 2009 THE accountancy giant PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) said last night it would “vigorously” fight a £40m claim made by a former employee in a race discrimination case. Romanian Mihaela Popa worked for PwC between 2004 and 2006 and has already lost one industrial tribunal case with the firm. She now claims to have new evidence which she [...]