Why, Robot? June 18, 2009 FilmTHE TRANSFORMERS: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN Cert: 12A THIS is the second instalment in the Michael Bray special effects paradise that is The Transformers. There is little point trying to work out what’s going on – the plot is utterly baffling, with new characters, monsters, machines and storylines unleashed every few minutes. But to tax [...]
Phorm posts a loss as costs rise but says it has enough in reserve June 18, 2009 TARGETED online advertising company Phorm yesterday posted a full-year year loss as costs rose, but said it expected to have adequate resources to continue operations. Its pre-tax loss was $48m(£29.3m) for the year ended 31 December, widening from $32.1m last year. Phorm said that it had cash resources of $23.2m, up from $16.6m in the [...]
Revolt brews at Gemfields June 18, 2009 A GROUP of activist shareholders in miner Gemfields Resources are staging a revolt, claiming the firm’s management is pushing to secure a takeover bid from rival Rox Conduit which substantially undervalues the company. The dissident group believes Gemfields is trying to secure a rapid sale to Rox Conduit, which owns a 63.9 per cent stake [...]
One in four struggle to save due to economic turbulence June 18, 2009 ONE in four people in the UK are unable to put any of their income into savings due to the ongoing financial crisis, new statistics from Nationwide revealed yesterday. The UK’s largest building society said in its Saving Index that 26 per cent of consumers are unable to save their money, while less than half [...]
OUT THIS WEEKEND PREVIEWS June 18, 2009 FILM GIGANTIC – Inventive comedy drama with Paul Dano and Zooey Deschanel. NORTH BY NORTHWEST – Re-release for Hitchcock’s landmark thriller, with Cary Grant. KATYN – Polish movie about horrors perpetrated by the Red Army in World War II. DVD VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA – Woody Allen’s return to form, with Scarlett Johansson and Javier Bardem.NICK [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS June 18, 2009 ITVRoyal Bank of Scotland upgraded ITV to “buy” from “sell” with a target price of 41p, based on its belief that TV will lead the charge on the advertising recovery, and that ITV will take the lion’s share of the budgets. The broker notes that the balance sheet is slowly being addressed and that the [...]
Campari in $250m private placing June 18, 2009 Italian drinksmaker Gruppo Campari yesterday announced it has completed the issue of $250m (£152.6m) of senior unsecured notes placed in the US private placement market and the proceeds will go towards refinancing debt incurred with an acquisition. Campari said the placement was with institutional investors. The notes are structured in three tranches of $40m, $100m [...]
Households now 200 better off June 18, 2009 The average UK family with a mortgage is now 25 per cent better off each month than it was last year, according to a report out today by Ernst&Young. Assuming there is no change to employment status, the typical household discretionary income has risen by over £200 over the last 12 months. The increase is [...]
London still number one for retail June 18, 2009 London continues to dominate the European retail landscape, rated number one in a new poll out today by Experian and Jones Lang LaSalle in terms of consumer spending and prime retail rents. But outside London, other UK retail rents are now falling below European competitors due to currency exchange rates.
Slick tricks and patter prove Derren Brown is the real deal June 18, 2009 TheatreDERREN BROWNAdelphi TheatreDerren BROWN has been on our TV screens long enough now for most of us to be fairly familiar with his shtick, but that doesn’t make seeing it live anything less than a wholly mesmerising experience. I can’t think there’s a more joyfully entertaining evening to be spent in a West End theatre [...]