Sky to miss crucial subscribers target July 7, 2008 Satellite broadcaster BSkyB looks set to miss its important internal target of subscribing 10m customers by 2010, as growth in the pay-TV sector begins to slow. In fiscal 2007, Sky signed 406,000 new customers to its satellite service, and needs to add a further 400,000 each year to meet its goal in 2010. It is [...]
Berkeley pays bosses £60m July 7, 2008 Multi-Millionaire property entrepreneur Tony Pidgley and three of his fellow directors at housebuilder Berkeley Group are getting a £60m pay-out, it has emerged. Pidgley and the three other members of the management team will net around 7 per cent of the company, which is valued at around £770m. The pay-outs come at a time when [...]
Merrill eyes Bloomberg sale July 7, 2008 American investment bank Merrill Lynch is in negotiations to sell its 20 per cent stake in financial data and news firm Bloomberg, as it seeks to raise more cash to firm up its balance sheet. Talks with the firm’s founder and New York mayor Michael Bloomberg are still at an early stage, according to those [...]
Sugar for Mayor? July 4, 2008 If you thought the last London Mayoral elections were farcical, just wait for the next lot. Boris Johnson has only been in office for a matter of weeks, yet there is already speculation about who Labour might put up against the gaffe-prone oaf in May 2012. Two-term incumbent Ken Livingstone, who Johnson dethroned this year, [...]
New Orange supremo in drive back to basics July 4, 2008 For a man who has spent his entire career in the telecoms industry, it seems strange that Tom Alexander, Orange UK’s newly installed chief executive, should list his first passion as racing cars. As we travel across London in the back of his chauffer driven BMW 7-series, he tells me he never expected to make [...]
M&S readies for investor protest vote July 4, 2008 Four large investors in Marks & Spencers are planning to vote against the retailer’s annual report and accounts at its annual meeting next week over concerns about Sir Stuart Rose’s dual role as executive chairman and chief executive. Three pension schemes – The Universities Superannuation Scheme, Railpen and APG, and the Co-operative Insurance Society, who [...]
Debts boost for Galliford helps shares July 4, 2008 Housebuilder and construction firm Galliford Try surprised the City yesterday, saying it had been able to slash its debt to less than £5m, sending its shares up 14 per cent by the close of trading. The figure fell well below analyst expectations, with predictions that the firm, which operates in the public and private sector, [...]
City rides to the £400m rescue of B&B July 4, 2008 Bradford & Bingley said last night its underwriters and other City institutions will back its £400m fundraising despite a dramatic decision by American private equity firm TPG to walk away from a deal after rating agency Moody’s cut the bank’s credit status. The move comes after Moody’s cut the cash-strapped bank’s rating to Baa1, giving [...]
McFall in oil probe July 4, 2008 Concern over the rising price of oil – which yesterday hit a new record of $146 a barrel – has prompted the powerful Treasury select committee to hold its first ever hearing into the regulation of the oil markets. The committee, which is chaired by Labour MP John McFall, will hold the hearing in mid-July [...]
AstraZeneca victorious in patent battle July 3, 2008 Shares in AstraZeneca, the drugs giant, jumped nearly 5 per cent yesterday after it won a key patent battle in America over Seroquel, its anti-psychotic drug and second-best seller. The decision by a US court to award a summary judgment in AstraZeneca’s favour avoids the need for a full trial and means that generic copies [...]