Vodafone tie-up pays for Verizon as it prepares to take full control October 17, 2013 VERIZON Communications yesterday posted stronger- than-expected third-quarter earnings and revenue driven by wireless growth, sending its shares upwards. While wireless customer growth was slightly below Wall Street estimates, its Verizon Wireless venture with Vodafone Group posted good profit and revenue growth as customers spent more on data services.Verizon has agreed to buy out Vodafone’s 45 [...]
Fraud squad prepares for first Libor trial October 17, 2013 FORMER UBS and Citigroup trader Tom Hayes will appear in court on Monday to answer charges related to the Libor-rigging scandal. The Serious Fraud Office has asked more than 20 other people set to be named on the indictment against Hayes to apply for injunctions to protect their anonymity if they wish. Tom Hayes is [...]
BSkyB’s shares hit 12-year high on user growth October 17, 2013 SKY’S growing broadband and TV customer numbers during the three months to 30 September helped push the pay-TV giant’s share price to a 12-year high yesterday. Sky added 800,000 new paid-for subscriptions to its services during the quarter, boosted by 111,000 new broadband subscribers, which took the company to over 5m total broadband customers. Revenues [...]
Bottom Line: Costs bite but Premier commitment pays off October 17, 2013 NO MATTER who wins, wars are always expensive. When BT kicked off its bid to take on rival BSkyB with its own dedicated sports channels earlier this year, it sparked a bidding battle for Premier League football rights that sent prices soaring. Sky acknowledged the hit in its first quarter results yesterday as programming costs rose [...]
Shine wears off as poll predicts earlier rate hike October 17, 2013 A NEW poll suggests that less than a quarter of households expect interest rates to stay low until 2016, despite Bank of England governor Mark Carney’s policy on forward guidance. A full 69 per cent of households polled by Ipsos Mori on behalf of Markit expect an interest rate hike within the next two years, [...]
Tills ring out as retailers record best quarter in over five years October 17, 2013 RETAILERS saw a bumper quarter between July and September, as official statistics yesterday confirmed the best sales of any three-month period since 2008. The quantity of sales in the sector rose by 1.5 per cent in comparison to the second quarter of the year, marking the second-best performance in nine years. The quantity of sales [...]
Former Co-op boss called in front of MPs October 17, 2013 THE FORMER chief executive of The Co-operative Group has been called in front of the Treasury Select Committee to explain the firm’s botched attempt to buy 600 branches from Lloyds Banking Group. Peter Marks will answer questions from the committee, chaired by Tory MP Andrew Tyrie, next Tuesday morning. The committee launched an enquiry into the [...]
Just Retirement launches £300m market listing October 17, 2013 LIFE INSURER Just Retirement yesterday became the latest UK company to tap buoyant stock markets after announcing plans to raise £300m in an initial public offering (IPO) The company, which goes head to head with recently floated insurer Partnership in offering enhanced annuities, will launch a road show in the UK and America in the [...]
Inside Track: Let’s not overstate London’s appeal for tech flotations October 17, 2013 There’s nothing wrong at all with recently-floated technology companies like Macromac, Netscientific or Centralnic. These three groups, plus 18 others, have all floated on the London stock market over the course of the year and form part of the backdrop to a generally improving climate for flotations and fund-raisings in this city. But they do [...]
Watchdog says bank scandals are nearing end October 17, 2013 TOP CITY watchdog Martin Wheatley yesterday hinted that banking scandals could be coming to an end as lenders scrap the controversial sales incentives that led to crises like the PPI scandal. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) boss said the biggest banks have taken all of the right steps to end the culture of over-selling to customers who should [...]
