Torrid trading drags Nokia to £324m loss July 21, 2011 NOKIA yesterday crashed to an expected second quarter loss, compounding a miserable year for the former smartphone market-leader. Even factoring in a one-off payment of €430m from Apple over a long-running patent dispute, Nokia slumped to a loss of €368m (£324m). It was dragged down by a 20 per cent slide in revenues in its [...]
Shrinking margins hit Publicis July 21, 2011 SHRINKING margins and a warning of a final quarter slowdown took the shine off forecast-beating first-half results at Publicis. A surprise pick-up in European ad spending pushed the French firm to better than expected revenues. The world’s third-biggest ad group also reiterated its previous annual targets as revenue grew across all regions in the first [...]
888 revenues storm past forecasts July 21, 2011 ONLINE gaming firm 888 yesterday reported an 18 per cent rise in first-half revenue, driven by a strong performance in its casino and poker businesses. It now forecasts full-year results will be marginally ahead of the current market view. Analysts on average expect the company to post a full-year pre-tax profit of $21m on a [...]
BC Partners wins fight to buy Con Hem for £1.6bn July 21, 2011 PRIVATE equity firm BC Partners is set to buy Swedish cable company Com Hem, in a deal that will value the firm at about 17bn crowns (£1.6bn), one of the largest buyouts in Europe this year, people familiar with the situation said. BC Partners beat rival Cinven to acquire the business, owned by Carlyle Group [...]
AT&T profit beats forecasts July 21, 2011 AT&T’s second-quarter profit and revenue beat Wall Street estimates as it added more subscribers than expected, despite the loss of exclusive rights to sell Apple’s iPhone. The number two US mobile provider, which is seeking approval to buy T-Mobile USA for $39bn, added 331,000 net subscribers in the quarter, compared with the average analyst expectation [...]
Colt earnings fall on voice revenue July 21, 2011 European telecoms provider Colt Group saw core earnings dip slightly in the first half as a drop in voice revenue offset higher data and managed services sales. The group, which mainly serves businesses, reported core earnings of €157.2m (£139m), down 0.6 per cent, on 3.5 per cent lower revenue of €766.2 for the six months [...]
OFCOM CROWNS T-MOBILE TOP OF THE POLLS July 21, 2011 T-MOBILE yesterday topped a poll of customer satisfaction with their network operators, with a 72 per cent approval rating, according to watchdog Ofcom (led by Ed Richards, pictured). O2 finished a close second, with Orange, Virgin Media and Vodafone all within three per centage points. BT was voted the top landline provider. Orange topped the [...]
Thomas Cook given nod for Co-op merger July 21, 2011 PLANS by Thomas Cook and the Co-Operative Group to merge their high street travel agent businesses have been given preliminary approval by the Competition Commission. The commission said it did not expect the deal to have a major impact on customers buying package holidays. If the merger gets the final go ahead it will create [...]
SABMiller beer volumes up July 21, 2011 BREWER SABMiller reported a rise in first-quarter beer volumes, led by continued growth in emerging markets, but kept the market guessing whether it will sweeten its bid for Australia’s Foster. The world’s second-largest brewer and maker of Miller Lite, Peroni and Pilsner Urquell said yesterday that underlying beer and soft drink volumes grew five per [...]
Mitchells & Butlers suffers as its sales growth slows in economic uncertainty July 21, 2011 PUBS and restaurants group Mitchells & Butlers said yesterday sales growth had slowed in the last two months and that the outlook was rocky because of the economic climate. M&B, whose chains include Toby Carvery and All Bar One, said underlying like-for-like sales were up 2.8 percent in the nine weeks to 16 July. Underlying [...]
