Lenders offer Sharp a 210bn yen lifeline September 27, 2012 MIZHUO Financial Group and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, the two main lenders to Sharp, have approved a 210bn yen (£1.6bn) bailout of Japan’s troubled TV maker, sources said yesterday, clearing a major obstacle to firm’s survival. The two banks have been orchestrating Sharp’s funding plans in exchange for drastic changes at the century-old firm, including [...]
Arsenal shoot way to £37m pre-tax profits September 27, 2012 ARSENAL bucked the trend in the typically loss-making world of top flight football yesterday, announcing a £36.6m pre-tax profit for financial year 2011-12. London’s biggest club’s pre-tax earnings were up from £14.8m the previous year, although the rise was considerably boosted by player sales. Retained profit came in at £29.6m. Revenues were down from £255.7m [...]
Nike results marred by slowdown in its key Chinese market September 27, 2012 NIKE last night reported first quarter earnings 12 per cent lower than the same period last year as the higher cost of raw materials took its toll on the sportswear giant. For the three months to the end of August, Nike’s net income fell to $567m (£349.2m), or $1.23 per share. That compares with net [...]
Tech City first as Facebook app developer sold September 27, 2012 THE GOVERNMENT’S Tech City project has seen its first successful exit, with Shoreditch-based Facebook application developer iPlatform sold to Irish marketing firm Betapond. iPlatform was founded by entrepreneurs Joshua March and Dan Lester in 2008, shortly after Facebook allowed outside developers to create software on the website. The firm designs social apps for the likes [...]
WANdisco eyes new investment after landmark technology IPO September 27, 2012 BRITISH software firm WANdisco said yesterday that it would spend the cash from its summer initial public offering (IPO) on “significantly expanding” its staff as the company invests in the fast growing big data market. Sheffield-based WANdisco has pocketed $26m (£16m) from its float on Aim in June and has seen its shares rise 75 [...]
EU steps up antitrust fight with Microsoft over Internet Explorer September 27, 2012 MICROSOFT moved closer to a showdown with the EU yesterday when the European Commission’s antitrust chief said it was close to charging the tech giant over its failure to comply with competition law. Joaquin Almunia, the EU’s competition commissioner, said it would soon lodge formal objections with Microsoft over its failure to offer a choice [...]
Vodafone will have to fork out £500m to make most of CWW September 27, 2012 VODAFONE will have to spend £500m on integrating Cable & Wireless Worldwide (CWW)’s infrastructure into its own network, the firm announced yesterday, as it counted the cost of the £1.3bn acquisition. However, Vodafone said the benefits of the purchase were better than many analysts had expected, leading to cash generation of £150m-200m by 2016. CWW [...]
Fresh Tube strike looms as RMT ballots over driver-free trains September 27, 2012 TUBE union the RMT yesterday said it will ballot drivers for industrial action over plans to introduce driverless trains to the London Underground. The union is angry at imminent tests of driver-free Tube trains on the Jubilee line, which it argues could lead to unstaffed stations and ticket offices. “Every train must have a driver, [...]
Bidders line up to take on the Essex Thameside rail franchise September 27, 2012 FOUR companies are believed to have submitted bids for the Essex Thameside rail route by yesterday’s deadline. The Department for Transport received proposals from National Express, which currently runs the route under the c2c name, as well as FirstGroup, Abellio and London Overground operator MTR. All four firms were shortlisted last March. The winner, to [...]
Petrofac nets $200m contract September 27, 2012 Oil services firm Petrofac yesterday announced it had been awarded a $200m (£123m) deal by Kuwait Oil Company for a new power distribution network. The engineering, procurement and construction contract, which will take 24 months to complete, involves FTSE 100-listed Petrofac building substations and improving power supplies to Kuwait’s onshore oil fields.
