HP to merge PCs and printers March 20, 2012 Hewlett Packard chief Meg Whitman plans to combine the computing giant’s PC and printing divisions in a major internal overhaul intended to spur combined sales of hardware to customers, two sources familiar with the move said yesterday.
SuperGroup shakes up team at the top March 20, 2012 SUPERGROUP has added two new executives to its board as the fashion house looks to strengthen its management team and expand its presence overseas. The company behind the Superdry brand said that Susanne Given, formerly John Lewis’ director of fashion and beauty, will take up the newly created role of chief operating officer next month. [...]
Mobile arm fuels surge at M&C Saatchi fuelled by UK and mobile March 20, 2012 M&C SAATCHI grew its revenues 22 per cent to £153.1m last year on the back of its growing mobile division and a strong performance in the UK, leading to the advertising giant’s best year-on-year turnover hike since floating in 2004. The group said the UK accounts for almost 60 per cent of its pre-tax profits, [...]
Tablet boom gives a boost to gaming March 20, 2012 GAME revenues from tablets are expected to grow from last year’s $491m (£309.6m) to $3.1bn by 2016, said Juniper Research, as Apple announced it had sold three million new iPads since last week’s launch. Report author Charlotte Miller said: “Tablet owners tend to have a larger disposable income… Higher user satisfaction with games and a [...]
Record pre-tax profit for TalkSport’s owner UTV March 20, 2012 NORTHERN Irish broadcaster UTV Media yesterday reported a 10 per cent rise in adjusted full-year profits to a record £23.3m, up from £21.3m, on a six per cent revenue growth in its Radio GB division. UTV Media, which operates in four main areas – radio in Great Britain, radio in Ireland, commercial television and new [...]
Mayoral race kicks off with jobs and fares March 20, 2012 BORIS Johnson has taken an eight-point lead in the battle to be Mayor of London, according to a YouGov poll issued to mark the start of the official campaign. Johnson’s campaign has pulled ahead of the competition in recent weeks and the latest polling gives him 49 per cent of first preference votes, against 41 [...]
Economy is the defining issue for Londoners March 20, 2012 THE ECONOMY is set to define the election, according to an Ipsos MORI poll that found 59 per cent of Londoners cited the financial outlook as one of their most important concerns. Respondents said the other important factors are tackling crime (49 per cent), improving public transport (38 per cent) and building cheap homes (37 [...]
Cairn hit by Greenland oil plan failures March 20, 2012 CAIRN Energy said yesterday it had been hit by a $1.1bn (£693m) operating loss in 2011, triggered by failures in its Greenland exploration plans. But the company said it was well placed for further drilling campaigns, having posted a full year after-tax profit of $4.5bn following the sale of its Indian assets to Vedanta. A [...]
Genel reports a loss but is still upbeat on production March 20, 2012 GENEL Energy, run by former BP boss Tony Hayward, yesterday reported a loss in its maiden results but was buoyed by strong production figures. The firm, which relisted in London in November after a merger between an energy group and Hayward’s acquisition vehicle Vallares, show a $57.7m (£36.3m) loss on revenues of $24m. There was [...]
Petrofac in carbon capture plan March 20, 2012 The National Grid and Petrofac plan to build a carbon capture and storage (CCS) project in Britain with US partner Summit Power, the companies said yesterday. The consortium will apply for funding from the British government, which is due to relaunch a £1bn tender for CCS projects after a first round of funding failed on [...]