Apple executive Ian Rogers resigns just two months after launch of online radio Beats1 August 28, 2015 Apple executive Ian Rogers took his company and the music industry by surprise today, resigning just two months after the launch of Beats1 online radio, reports the Financial Times. Rogers, who joined Apple a year ago, headed up development and strategy at Beats1, bringing in presenters like Ellie Goulding and Zane Lowe. Apple has confirmed [...]
Jurassic World boosts first-half profit at Odeon and UCI Cinemas August 28, 2015 Odeon and UCI Cinemas yesterday unveiled a blockbuster rise in first-half revenue and earnings, thanks to box-office smashes such as Jurassic World. The cinema chain, owned by the Terra Firma private equity firm, saw its core earnings more than double to £37.3m, while revenue increased by 17.1 per cent to £348.7m. Attendance rose 13.8 per [...]
GVC down but not out in duel for Bwin.party August 28, 2015 888’S lead position in the battle for online gaming giant Bwin.party was thrown into doubt yesterday when the takeover target asked rival bidder GVC to finalise its best offer. Sportingbet owner GVC appeared to have fallen out of the running after Bwin.party accepted a £900m cash and share deal from 888 in July. But GVC [...]
Profits double at Aldermore as lending grows August 28, 2015 The Chief executive of Aldermore yesterday shrugged off the impact of UK tax changes on the challenger bank’s growth trajectory, as the firm revealed that it more than doubled profit in the first half of the year. The six-year-old bank beat expectations with an underlying pre-tax profit of £44m as it issued more mortgages [...]
Libor rate-fixing scandal: Serious Fraud Office grills Deutsche Bank traders August 27, 2015 Deutsche Bank traders have been interviewed by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) in recent weeks in relation to the Libor scandal. A number of traders, both current and past, have been questioned by UK prosecutors about the manipulation of Libor – the rate at which banks lend to each other, according to Bloomberg. The SFO [...]
Internet of Things, digital assistant and 3D tablets: Four projects Amazon’s Lab 126 is secretly working on August 27, 2015 They may be laying off “dozens” of engineers, but Amazon’s labs are still working on some pretty interesting projects. After the company’s anticipated “iPhone killer”, the Fire, failed to deliver, it was reported today that engineers will be laid off after Amazon decided to retreat from smartphones – and from several other consumer hardware products. Read [...]
Fitbug share price jumps after appointment of new chief executive Anna Gudmundson August 27, 2015 Shares in penny stock Fitbug closed up 15 per cent to 2.5p today after the wearable fitness tracker-maker announced the appointment of a new chief exec Anna Gudmundson. Gudmundson has held the role of interim product director since February, leading Fitbug's ongoing development of its digital coaching system, Kiqplan. She'll replace Malcolm Fried who stepped down after he completed his [...]
Is your company about to merge? Let this 8-point plan for employees guide you on what to do next August 27, 2015 As Betfair and Paddy Power announce plans to merge, in a deal that would create one of the world's biggest online betting and gaming companies, what should you do if you’re in the employee waiting room – ready to be called in and delivered your fate? 1) Don’t panic – mergers happen all the time [...]
As Amazon lays off engineers, it giving up on smartphones after disappointing Fire sales? August 27, 2015 Remember Fire, Amazon’s first foray into smartphones? Amazon probably wishes it didn’t. The internet retailer is laying off “dozens of engineers” after disappointing sales of its smartphone, released in the UK one year ago, and the company is also curbing parts of its hardware development, the Wall Street Journal has reported. The layoffs were all [...]
Playtech share price dips despite profit growth ahead of Plus500 acquisition August 27, 2015 Gambling software company Playtech reported strong growth in profits in its first half, ahead of its acquisition of Plus500. However, the company's shares dipped two per cent down in mid-morning trading. The figures Playtech reported revenues of €286m (£210m) in the six months to the end of June, a 33 per cent increase on the same period last year. Adjusted pre-tax [...]