Freesat joint venture between ITV and BBC reaches the one million sales mark March 23, 2010 FREESAT, the joint venture between ITV and BBC, announced yesterday that the subscription-free satellite service had reached the one million sales mark, after just 18 months in business. The 250,000 additional sales since November means Freesat now holds 30 per cent of the market for all set top boxes sold in the UK. Freesat is [...]
Ofcom allows competitors access to BT’s new internet fibre lines and ducts March 23, 2010 RIVAL Internet service providers will have access to BT’s new fibre lines via a so-called virtual network or they could lay their own fibre in the telecom firm’s ducts under new proposals from the regulator. Ofcom said yesterday it would propose allowing competitors to have access to new fibre lines laid by BT, at a [...]
CITY TAKES AN OUTSIDE PUNT ON THE BUBBLY March 23, 2010 AMUSED ripples radiated from the City yesterday following this column’s speculation as to what tipple George Osborne – likely to be the country’s next chancellor if the Tories win the election – might drink if he ends up presenting the next Budget. It seems most readers agreed with The Capitalist’s prediction that Osborne would stick [...]
FUEL HIKE HITS CARNIVAL EARNINGS March 23, 2010 CARNIVAL Corp, the world’s largest cruise operator, yesterday posted lower quarterly earnings due to higher fuel costs but said prices for its cruises were rebounding. The Miami-based firm posted net income of $175m (£116m), or 22 cents per share, for the fiscal first quarter, down from $260m, or 33 cents per share, a year earlier. [...]
Ambrian Capital swings from loss to profit March 23, 2010 British investment bank and broker Ambrian Capital swung to a full-year profit yesterday. For the year ended 31 December, the firm posted pre-tax profit before items of £4m, compared with a loss of £16.3m a year ago. Net tangible asset value rose 7.2 per cent to 31.18p per share. Revenue rose 82 per cent to [...]
E&Y defends itself against US court report March 23, 2010 Partners at Ernst & Young (E&Y) have criticised the US court commissioned report out earlier this month on their role as auditor of Lehman Brothers. In a letter to clients, the accounting giant criticised claims in the report that E&Y was aware of the “Repo 105” transactions that were allegedly used to shift $50bn (£33.2bn) [...]
Dubai World close to deal with creditors March 23, 2010 DEBT-LADEN Dubai World will present plans to restructure its $26bn (£17.3bn)debt pile to creditors this week, with details emerging as soon as today, sources familiar with the talks said yesterday. The conglomerate, which has been locked in talks with its creditors, will discuss how it plans to repay its commitments with an informal bank panel, [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS March 23, 2010 Ernst & Young Dawn Aloof has joined EY from rival PricewaterhouseCoopers, to lead its Europe, Middle East, India and Africa (EMEIA) financial services transaction integration practice. Aloof also previously spent 15 years at Barclays, where she was responsible for clients’ global operating strategy, planning and M&A operations. She is joined by four ex-PwC colleagues: Ari [...]
Aberdeen to focus on growth March 23, 2010 ABERDEEN Asset Management, the acquisitive UK fund manager, has called time on takeovers and will focus on building through organic growth, its finance director said yesterday. The fund manager has made 17 acquisitions since 2001 – the most recent being the January purchase of RBS’s non core fund assets – to become one of Britain’s [...]
ANZ poaches Citi’s Asia regional boss March 23, 2010 Mark Robinson, the chief executive of Citigroup’s South Asia division, is leaving the bank after serving just over a year in the role. He has been recruited by ANZ as chief executive of South and Southeast Asia which has been amplifying its activity in the region. ANZ said the appointment of Robinson, with his previous [...]
