CITY VIEWS: ARE YOU WORRIED ABOUT THE US DEBT CRISIS? July 27, 2011 JAMES MOSS | REED EMPLOYMENT “Yes, I am worried about the US losing its triple-A rating: it will affect the whole world. There is a great deal of opposition between the Republicans and Democrats so decisions on the debt ceiling may not be universally approved, but I don’t think Obama should use his veto – [...]
Sweet day for Dunkin’s as shares wolfed July 27, 2011 HUNGRY investors snapped up shares in the owner of US snack chain Dunkin’ Donuts on its first day of trading yesterday, sending them up almost 50 per cent by the close. Dunkin’ Brands, which also owns ice cream seller Baskin-Robbins, raised its planned $422.8m (£258m) through a Nasdaq initial public offering after pricing its offering [...]
Sage on track to meet forecasts July 27, 2011 Sage Group, the accountancy software expert, says it traded in-line with expectations for the nine months to 30 June and that it is confident of meeting management’s full year targets. The group says its cash generation remains strong and net debt fell to £67m at 30 June versus £106m net debt at the end of [...]
CSR moves away from handsets July 27, 2011 Chipmaker CSR expects its strength in audio and automotive markets to insulate it from the faltering demand for other electronics goods that threatens some in the industry in the second half of the year. CSR’s second quarter results showed sales were down 12 per cent on a year ago as it lost ground in the [...]
SAP grabs Oracle market share July 27, 2011 SAP, the world’s biggest maker of business software, has taken market share from arch rival Oracle for the first time in 18 months, analysts said yesterday after seeing SAP results. The German company has raised its outlook and said licence revenues jumped 35 per cent in the second quarter. Net profit for the three months [...]
ITV sees its profits surge July 27, 2011 ITV saw its first half profits soar and said a volatile summer ad market could stabilise as the nights start to draw in for autumn. The broadcaster has seen ad sales slump after a positive start to the year, hit by tough comparatives owing to last year’s World Cup. Overall ad sales for the first [...]
Micropayments are misguided July 27, 2011 APPLE has built its iTunes and App Store empire on micropayments, small one-off payments of between a few pence and a few pounds. Now ITV is hoping to emulate that success with its own “pay mechanism”, which will likely charge customers for accessing content online or through a TV on-demand system like Virgin Media. We [...]
Sky board to back Murdoch as chairman July 27, 2011 JAMES Murdoch is expected to get the backing of the BSkyB board today for his continuing as chairman of the company despite the various inquiries taking place into the phone-hacking scandal at the News of the World while he was the organisation’s most senior executive. One or two independent directors on the satellite broadcaster’s board [...]
Aegis offloads its market research arm for £525m July 27, 2011 MEDIA giant Aegis yesterday clinched the sale of its Synovate market research business to French peer Ipsos in a deal worth £525m. Aegis, the world’s fourth biggest ad agency by billings, said it planned to return to shareholders £200m of the sale proceeds via a special dividend. The sale will put a spotlight on the [...]
Virgin sees net customer loss July 27, 2011 VIRGIN Media lost a net 36,000 customers in the second quarter but continued its upward revenue momentum, with sales growing two per cent to £986m. Its average revenue per user rose to £47 a month. The company also announced a new, larger-than-expected £850m share buyback and debt repayment programme, which will take its total capital return [...]
