CHIEF EXECUTIVE OPPORTUNITY INTERNATIONAL UK December 14, 2011 It’s that time of year when the high streets switch on the festive lights and, despite the economic gloom, the shops become busier with Christmas shoppers out in force. Queuing to pay at a cash till here in Oxford yesterday lunchtime, I was reminded of Beauty Munthali, one of our supervisors in the southern region [...]
£265,000 NOW RAISED December 14, 2011 DONATIONS to our Christmas appeal are still flooding in and we are proud to say that these gifts have now taken our total to more than £265,000. With just one week to go, we are calling on all our readers to contribute using any of the methods below to help support loans to entrepreneurs in [...]
Logica shares hit three-year low over cuts December 14, 2011 SHARES in technology consultancy firm Logica plummeted to a three-year low yesterday as the company sped up its internal restructure due to worsening conditions in European markets. Logica cut its 2011 forecast for the second time in just over a month, expecting around three per cent growth – down from above three per cent in [...]
Betfair gets lift from football December 14, 2011 BETFAIR Group, the world’s largest betting exchange, reported first half core earnings at the top end of expectations yesterday, driven by a good start to the football season and a surge in mobile phone betting. Betfair, founded 10 years ago by one-time professional gambler Andrew Black and former JP Morgan trader Edward Wray, said the [...]
Daily Mail group offloads loss-making Teletext arm December 14, 2011 DAILY Mail General Trust (DMGT) yesterday agreed to sell its majority stake in its loss-making Teletext business for an undisclosed sum. DMGT will retain a minority stake in the company, which broadcasts on Freeview, while the majority holding will be sold to A&N Media, Teletext’s current management. Teletext has also appointed a new chairman, Chris [...]
Nexon makes weak Tokyo debut that casts doubt on Zynga’s float pricing December 14, 2011 ONLINE gaming firm Nexon slipped on its trading debut yesterday following a $1.2bn (£776m) initial public offering, Japan’s biggest this year, and may signal a bumpy ride for US-based rival Zynga, which it due to debut on Nasdaq tomorrow. Nexon, founded in South Korea almost two decades ago, offers PC-based games for free, while charging [...]
Monitise set to treble its half-year revenue to £15m December 14, 2011 MOBILE banking company Monitise yesterday announced an expected revenue of three times last year’s figure for just the first half of the 2012 financial year. Revenues for the six month period to 31 December 2011 are expected to reach £15m, up from £5.3m in the same period last year. This is already higher than the [...]
ANALYST VIEWS: WHAT DO YOU MAKE OF LOGICA’S PLANS? December 14, 2011 JULIAN YATES | INVESTEC In light of the pressure the business was under at the H1 2011 results, we were expecting a restructuring, so today’s news is not a surprise, although the timing has come a little earlier than we would have anticipated. WILL WALLIS | NUMIS Given that Q411 will be around zero per [...]
Swisscom writedown in Italy December 14, 2011 Swiss phone company Swisscom will suffer a €1.3bn (£1.1bn) writedown, after paying too much for Italian broadband operator Fastweb amid Eurozone troubles. Since Swisscom paid €4.6bn for Fastweb in 2007, the unit’s value has fallen by around 35 per cent. However, chief executive Carsten Schloter insisted he remains committed to Fastweb, adding that exiting Italy [...]
MySpace loses top 10 slot December 14, 2011 MySpace has dropped out of the top 10 list of UK social networks for the first time since records began, replaced by relative newcomer Stumble Upon, according to a report released yesterday from Experian Hitwise. Facebook continues to top the list, with over 50 per cent of visits, followed by YouTube with 24 per cent. [...]
