Claridges owner wins NAMA case February 3, 2011 AN IRISH property developer, whose assets include London luxury hotels Claridges, the Connaught and the Berkeley, yesterday won a legal challenge to stop the National Asset Management Agency (NAMA) acquiring his loans, a ruling that complicates the operations of the state-run agency, dubbed the “bad bank”. Ireland’s Supreme Court said yesterday a decision to acquire [...]
BIG SPENDERS BOOST MASTERCARD February 3, 2011 MASTERCARD’S fourth-quarter profit rose more than expected, as consumers around the world spent more money using credit and debit cards. The world’s second-largest credit and debit card network, headed by Ajay Banga (above), reported a quarterly profit of $415m (£257m), or $3.16 per share, compared with $294m, or $2.24 per share, a year earlier.
BT surprises the market as profits surge February 3, 2011 BT shares jumped over three per cent yesterday after the telecoms giant unveiled better than expected results, buoyed by improvements at its Global Services division. BT’s core profit rose seven per cent to £1.48bn in the last quarter of 2010, despite a three per cent sales decline, as it continued to slash costs. Global Services’ [...]
Vodafone beats expectations February 3, 2011 SMARTPHONE sales helped push Vodafone’s fourth-quarter ahead of expectations yesterday, with total revenues jumping 3.5 per cent to £11.89bn. Revenue in the UK grew seven per cent to £1.26bn, its highest since the second quarter of 2007. The growth was fuelled by an explosion in smartphone uptake, with 49 per cent of contract customers now [...]
COMPANY PROFILE February 3, 2011 PACE, which has been quietly building set top boxes for pay-TV firms for almost 30 years, is now the biggest player in its field. Having been around to experience the explosion in satellite TV in the late 1980s, it probably thought its high-growth days were behind it. It couldn’t have been more wrong: in 2009, [...]
Pace in talks to launch digital service in India February 3, 2011 UK set-top box maker Pace is in talks with a satellite provider to launch a new digital service in India. The discussions are believed to be with pay-TV operator Tata Sky, a joint venture between Indian conglomerate Tata and News International-owned Star TV. Analysts say the deal will not lead to a rush of sales [...]
Visa and Monitise sign mobile payment deal February 3, 2011 MONITISE has signed an agreement to provide mobile payment services for Visa’s member banks and financial institutions across Europe. The new services will include contactless payments in store, peer-to-peer payments and mobile alerts. The partnership gives Visa Europe a licence to Monitise’s industry-leading mobile technology. Bob Liao, an analyst with Canaccord Genuity, says the deal [...]
From albatross to global powerhouse February 3, 2011 WHEN Ian Livingston took the helm at BT, Global Services was a complete mess. One of the first things he had to do after becoming chief executive in 2008 was issue a dramatic profit warning due to underperforming contracts at the division, which competes with the likes of IBM for big corporate IT deals. Shareholders, [...]
Service sector soars on both sides of pond February 3, 2011 BOOMS in service sector activity were recorded in both the UK and the US last month, data revealed yesterday. After a snow-affected dip in December, Britain’s largest sector hit an eight-month high in January, jumping to 54.5 in the latest purchasing managers’ index (PMI) from 49.7 in December, well above the 51.4 reading expected. All [...]
Rate futures lift as Eurozone sticks with loose policies February 3, 2011 EUROZONE interest rate futures rose yesterday after the central bank held rates at a record low of one per cent, and avoided making hawkish noises. While warning that inflation could remain above the European central bank’s (ECB) two per cent target for most of 2011, medium run expectations remain “firmly anchored,” it said. Euribor futures [...]