The digital high street: Dixons and Carphone Warehouse confirm merger May 15, 2014 Dixons Retail, the owner of Currys and PC World, and Carphone Warehouse have announced they are to merge into a new company, called "Dixons Carphone". The £3.8bn deal will see ownership split equally between the two firms' existing shareholders. The companies are set make cost savings of £80m per year by 2018. If [...]
London Stock Exchange sees profits jump May 15, 2014 London Stock Exchange (LSE) Group has seen its profits before tax jump 17 per cent to £446m for the year ended 31 March 2014. Reported revenue rose by 50 per cent to over £1bn, with organic revenue growth climbing across all business segments. The proposed final divided has been hiked by 4.5 per cent to [...]
Asian markets slide despite strong Japanese growth May 15, 2014 Asian shares are taking a hit in the wake of lower profit projections from Japan's three biggest banks and forecasts from electronics giant Sony that it will continue to be unprofitable until 2015. Investors were, however, somewhat upbeat after the prospect of the European Central Bank (ECB) undertaking monetary easing was raised. ECB board member [...]
Here’s why privacy centered Darkcoin is surging May 14, 2014 Privacy focused cryptocurrency Darkcoin has seen its price surge by 19 per cent in the last 24 hours. One Darkcoin is now worth $3 and the digital currency has reached a market capitalisation of $12.8m. The rise comes fresh after the launch of an updated version of its payment system Darksend. Named release candidate two [...]
Netflix now more popular than iPlayer, 4OD and Amazon Prime Instant Video May 14, 2014 Netflix is now the second largest driver of online traffic in the UK and Ireland, just two years after it launched, and it now accounts for 17.8 per cent of traffic, according to new research. The television and movie streaming service is beaten only by YouTube’s 19.9 per cent share of traffic, according to Sandvine. [...]
Pfizer bosses face off with MPs for second day May 14, 2014 Bosses of US drugs giant Pfizer have faced a second grilling from MPs over the company's proposed takeover of Astrazeneca. The deal would result in the creation of the world's largest pharmaceutical company. Andrew Miller, chair of the Science and Technology select committee, kicked off proceedings by asking why Pfizer and Astrazeneca would be a [...]
ITV set to deliver first pay channel in June May 14, 2014 Broadcaster ITV has seen its total external revenues climb two per cent to £585m for the three months ended 31 March, with ITV Studios on course to deliver good revenue growth over the full year. The broadcaster said it was on track to launch ITV Encore in June, which will be followed by its new [...]
Asian markets advance as US equities maintain record highs May 14, 2014 Asian markets rose after US equities stayed at record highs, while the euro hovered near a five week low fuelling speculation among investors that the European Central Bank may pursue stimulus next month. Weaker than expected retail sales in the US did little to damper investor confidence, with the Federal Reserve continuing its tapering programme [...]
UK comes one step closer to banning unpaid internships May 13, 2014 The House of Commons has passed a Ten Minute Rule Motion banning unpaid internships by a massive 181 votes to 19. The motion was brought forward by conservative MP Alec Shelbrooke, who argued that unpaid internships disproportionately favoured the children of the wealthy and well-connected. Shelbrooke said fellow members of the House of Commons had [...]
Why Tuesday is Apple’s favourite day for announcements May 13, 2014 Today could be the day Apple confirms its $3.2bn takeover of Beats Electronics, in fact Apple is more likely to make the announcement today, a Tuesday, than any other day. This is because the iPhone-maker has a record of making its announcements on Tuesdays. In the last 15 months we’ve seen the overwhelming majority of [...]
