Irish house price decline halts June 25, 2012 Irish house prices rose in May, though they remained down annually, according to the newest data published yesterday. This is the first increase since 2007, though the magnitude of the rise is tiny, at 0.2 per cent. The arrest in declines is a relief for Irish banks, whose mortgage portfolios were devastated by the bursting [...]
Mega deals yet to make Bango the big bucks June 25, 2012 MOBILE payments firm Bango yesterday reported widening losses in the year to 31 March and said its recent deals with tech giants Amazon and Facebook have yet to deliver the goods. The Aim-listed company posted a total loss of £930,000 for the year, compared to £700,000 the year before, as revenues dropped by almost a [...]
Global snaps up GMG Radio amid protests June 25, 2012 GLOBAL Radio yesterday announced it has sealed a deal to buy GMG Radio, currently owned by the Guardian Media Group, for an undisclosed sum thought to be around £70m. But the acquisition, which makes Global Radio the largest commercial radio group in the UK, is understood to have upset rival groups on competition concerns. Absolute [...]
LOVEFILM SIGNS FIRST CLASS DEAL WITH FOX June 25, 2012 Lovefilm, the Amazon-owned movie rental service, yesterday unveiled a deal which will give its users exclusive access to Twentieth Century Fox films – such as X-Men: First Class and Black Swan (above) – in the so-called second pay window, with Sky owning rights to the first pay period. Fox joins Warner Bros, Universal and Sony in [...]
WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS June 25, 2012 Edison Investment Research The investment research firm has made three appointments to its London team. Tom Carless joins as finance and operations director from 7city, a specialist financial training firm. He spent five years as finance director at Ovum. Additionally, Will Forbes and Zsolt Mester join Edison’s team of analysts, from Arc Asset Management and [...]
BEST of the BROKERS June 25, 2012 BSKYB Espirito Santo’s Giasone Salati has issued a “buy” rating on satellite TV giant BSkyB and a fair value of 820p, up from 790p. Referencing a propriety survey, the analyst believes that BSkyB’s NOW TV product could attract a potential 650,000 new users paying £10 per month. Espirito Santo also points towards the potential for [...]
Shire hit as US approves generic drug June 25, 2012 US regulators have ruled against Shire in a battle over generic copies of its hyperactivity drug Adderall XR, approving a cut-price version of the medicine from Actavis, which is being bought by Watson Pharmaceuticals. Until now there have only been two authorised generic forms of Adderall XR, both supplied by Shire, and the arrival of [...]
Spain formally applies for bailout June 25, 2012 Spain formally requested on Monday European aid of up to 100bn euros for its banks, the Economy Ministry said in a statement. Spain’s Economy Minister Luis De Guindos (pictured) said in the letter to Eurogroup chairman Jean-Claude Juncker that the final amount of the financial assistance would be set at a later stage but should [...]
Banks and miners peg FTSE back June 25, 2012 Miners and banks led the FTSE 100 lower in early trading as fears over stalling global growth took their toll. With the grim scene in the Eurozone still casting a shadow investors were shying away from riskier assets. Spain today formally requested a bailout loan for its banking sector from its eurozone partners. The loan [...]
Lenovo shares hit over fears for PC market June 25, 2012 Shares of Lenovo Group, the world’s No.2 PC maker, fell by more than six per cent to a more than four-month intraday low on market concern over the outlook for the PC market amid the global economic slowdown. Lenovo’s shares fell as much as 6.3 per cent to HK$6.26 in afternoon trade, extending earlier losses [...]