Global hunger for smartphones sees ARM profits boom February 4, 2014 Chip designer ARM Holdings has announced a rise in normalised profit before tax of 19 per cent to £95.5m for the fourth quarter ended 31 December. Normalised Profit before tax for the full year rose to £364m – a 32 per cent increase on the previous year. ARM cited 26 processor licences signed for a [...]
Asian markets continue to sink after poor US data February 4, 2014 Asian shares struggled on Tuesday in the wake of poor US data and continued instability in emerging markets. Japan's Nikkei lost four per cent, breaking below the key technical 200-day moving average for the first time since November 2012 and bringing losses for 2014 to around 13 per cent. Signs of slower growth in China [...]
Parliament spends £32,955 of taxpayer money on designer chairs February 3, 2014 Parliament has splashed out an astonishing £32,955 on chairs. The figure was revealed in response to a freedom of information (FOI) request when curiosity was raised after a new batch of designer chairs made their debut in the Portcullis House Atrium. Parliament responded to this FOI request: I have recently noticed that there are new [...]
EU corruption costs €120bn a year February 3, 2014 The cost of corruption to European Union has reached a staggering €120bn (£99bn), according to the European Commission's first bi-annual anti-corruption report. EU Home Affairs Commissioner Cecilia Malmstroem, who delivered the report, wrote in the Swedish newspaper Goeteborgs-Posten, "The extent of the problem in Europe is breathtaking, although Sweden is among the countries with the [...]
Happy national sickie day February 3, 2014 More Brits will pull a sickie today than any other day of the year, according to an ITV Daybreak poll. The first Monday of February is being branded as "national sickie day" as workers try to avoid the horror of a cold Monday morning commute. The survey found that taking a personal day under false [...]
Falling gold price tarnishes Randgold profits February 3, 2014 In 2013, gold miner Randgold Resources hiked gold production to record levels and cut the total cash cost per ounce. It also lined up its operations to exceed the million-ounce mark for the first time this year, according to the company's for the quarter and year to December. In the wake of increased production, gold [...]
Slashing prices hit Ryanair hard February 3, 2014 Europe's largest budget airline Ryanair has suffered a worse than expected loss for the third quarter to 31 December. The low-cost airline has posted a loss of €35m (£28.7m), against analysts estimates of €32m. The results are a far cry from the €18.1m of profit seen a year earlier. But beyond the headline figure there [...]
Asian shares under pressure as fear of Chinese slowdown looms February 3, 2014 Asian shares dipped on Monday as emerging markets continue to struggle, with factory growth in China falling to a six-month low. China's purchasing managers' index (PMI) fell to 50.5 in January from December's 51, in line with analysts expectations. This follows last week's drop in China's HSBC PMI index to 49.5 in January from 50.5 [...]
Good news for Bitcoin bugs – BTC China is back in business January 31, 2014 Bitcoin bugs received a major boost today when BTC China said that customers would once again be allowed to buy Bitcoin by depositing yuan into the exchange's corporate bank account. Bobby Lee, CEO of BTC China told CNBC: Everything is hunky dory. Essentially the government never disallowed it. The world's largest Bitcoin exchange decided to [...]
Barnet council green lights £4bn Brent Cross Cricklewood regeneration January 31, 2014 Hammerson and Standard Life Investments have been given the go-ahead from Barnet council for the £4bn regeneration of Brent Cross Cricklewood. The project includes plans to construct 7,500 homes, new offices, four parks, transport improvements and an extension of Brent Cross Shopping Centre. Detailed designs for the project will be produced during 2014. Mike McGuinness, [...]
