HMV overtakes Amazon in fight for dwindling DVD and Blu-ray sales The decline of DVDs and Blu-rays has allowed HMV to overtake Amazon to be the biggest seller of physical films in the country. HMV has fared well with new releases such as Beauty and the Beast and Logan to take its market share of physical video sales up six points to 22.5 per cent. Amazon’s [...]
Argentina set for bond talks ARGENTINA’S lawyer warned yesterday that a deal between the country and its holdout creditors is “impossible”, as a US court ordered the two sides to hold constant talks o try and avoid a disastrous default. US District Judge Thomas Griesa told Argentina and lawyers for the bondholders to show up to a meeting in New [...]
Inmarsat: The London firm leading the race into outer space Inmarsat boss Rupert Pearce explains the firm’s mission. Walking past Inmarsat’s imposing head office on Old Street roundabout is probably the closest the average Londoner will ever come to travelling through space. Inmarsat oversees 11 satellites in orbit. The 35-year-old company is light years ahead of the government’s proposal, unveiled last week, to [...]
Vincent Tan’s MOL set to float July 14, 2014 AN ONLINE payment company majority-owned by Malaysian billionaire and Cardiff City FC owner Vincent Tan last night filed with US regulators to raise about $300m (£175m) by selling American Depositary Shares. The company, named MOL, is thought to be the largest e-payment enabler for online goods and services in Southeast Asia by payment volume.
Stations along Crossrail built July 10, 2014 ALMOST three miles of platforms have now been built for the new Crossrail line, taking the project’s stations past the halfway mark. Crossrail, which will run from Reading to Shenfield and Abbey Wood when it opens in 2018, will feature nine new stations in London. Canary Wharf, the most advanced of the new stations, is [...]
Turnaround on the way at First July 10, 2014 BUS and rail operator FirstGroup stressed yesterday that its efforts to turn around the company were on track following last year’s financial turbulence. The firm, which was forced to defend its credit rating with a £615m rights issue last year, said changes within its UK bus business and its Greyhound arm in the US had [...]
Air France KLM joins European peers to warn of lower earnings July 8, 2014 Air France KLM rocked aviation stocks yesterday by warning that a glut of spare seats on its routes would dent its profits this year, just weeks after German rival Lufthansa made a similarly gloomy prediction. The Franco-Dutch airline said that over-capacity on some long-haul routes this summer was dampening ticket and cargo prices, prompting the [...]
Network Rail’s £53m fine will fund free Wi-Fi on busiest trains July 7, 2014 Network Rail is being forced to hand back £53.1m of its state funding for falling “significantly short” on goals to cut delays on Britain’s railways. The government confirmed yesterday that the fine would be spent on offering free Wi-Fi on the busiest trains. In the five years to March 2014, fewer than nine in 10 [...]
Bill Ackman drives board of Botox maker Allergan to tie-up with Valeant July 7, 2014 Bill Ackman’s hedge fund has named its top picks for Allergan’s board as it attempts to steer the Botox manufacturer towards a tie-up with Valeant. Pershing Square, which has snapped up an almost 10 per cent stake in Allergan in recent months, said yesterday it wanted to remove the current board and install six new [...]
British Airways passenger numbers up 8.8 per cent as summer holidays begin July 3, 2014 The summer getaway has got off to a flying start for British Airways’ parent company IAG, which yesterday said its June passenger numbers were up 8.8 per cent on last year. The airline carried 7.1m customers worldwide last month, rising from 6.7m in May and 6.6m in the same month a year ago. As the [...]