CITY VIEWS: DO YOU FEEL MORE OR LESS POSITIVE ABOUT THE ECONOMY THAN YOU DID AT THE START OF THE YEAR?* February 7, 2012 STEPHEN CAVANAGH | CSIS “I feel more negative – from my experience I can see the market double-dipping again. I worry that things might relapse back to the immediate post-Lehman era.” STEVE PENNY | SKYLINE OFFICE LTD “It is only a couple of months into the year and so far it has not changed. I [...]
Glimmer of hope in UK job market as builders hire February 7, 2012 PERMANENT jobs increased in January for the first time in four months, according to recruitment consultancy data from KPMG, published yesterday. However, unemployment continued to climb despite the rise in permanent placements, the report showed. The study’s permanent staff placement index rose from 48.5 in December to 51.2 in January, recording growth in placements for [...]
BEHIND THE SCENES FOR OSCAR HIT’S LEGAL FIXER February 7, 2012 PAUL RENNEY, a lawyer at Keystone Law, almost collected the Bafta for The King’s Speech – except the film’s producers were faster out of their seats than he was. Renney, as the hit’s legal adviser, was a stand-in at the event for screenwriter David Seidler, who was “annoyed” at not being flown over from the [...]
TalkTalk takings up despite user exodus February 7, 2012 TALKTALK upped its full-year profit guidance and raised its expected earnings per share yesterday despite continuing to haemorrhage customers throughout its third quarter. The former Carphone Warehouse subsidiary shed 43,000 net broadband accounts in the period, leaving TalkTalk with around 4m customers. This year has seen the telecoms group fined £3m and ordered to pay [...]
Winning run for 888 as gamblers play at home February 7, 2012 GAMBLERS’ love of internet poker has helped gaming firm 888 Holdings to post record revenue. The company said full year revenue increased 26 per cent with the number of customers gambling on its websites growing. At 31 December, 888 had 10.6m casino, poker and sport real money registered customer accounts, up 22 per cent from [...]
PC sales take a hit as e-reader demand rises February 7, 2012 PC shipments to the UK dropped at an annual rate of 19.6 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2011, totalling 2.9m units and marking the UK’s fifth consecutive quarterly shipment decline according to Gartner data. Hit by the economy and growth in smartphones, tablets and e-readers, the Christmas period saw PC shipments slide further [...]
REVENUE GROWTH DISAPPOINTS AT DISNEY February 7, 2012 Walt Disney, which is set to re-release its classic Lady and the Tramp, last night reported a quarterly revenue increase that fell short of Wall Street expectations as media networks and theme parks gained but revenue at its movie studio declined. The operator of television networks ESPN and ABC, led by Robert Iger (inset), posted [...]
ONE HYDE PARK LOOKS FOR RETAIL BUYERS February 7, 2012 The developer of One Hyde Park, the luxury residential and retail complex in London’s Knightsbridge is looking to sell one of its stores on the ground floor for at least £21m. Project Grande, a joint venture between CPC Group and the Qatar Prime Minster, has appointed Savills to sell the space rented by the Abu [...]
ArcelorMittal thinks output will pick up February 7, 2012 ARCELORMITTAL, the world’s largest steelmaker, yesterday forecast an improvement in the first half of 2012 from a weak end to last year, with a clear pick up in North America but still concerns about Europe. The company, which makes around seven per cent of global steel, said yesterday steel shipments would return to the level [...]
Toyota raises full year outlook February 7, 2012 TOYOTA Motor raised its full-year profit forecast by more than a third yesterday as it cuts costs, trims spending and expects Japanese government schemes to boost sales, though the guidance was still some way below analysts’ expectations. Japan’s number one carmaker now expects operating profit – earnings from its core operations – for the year [...]