Stobart growth hit as demand falters October 26, 2011 STOBART Group’s profit growth was held back after the British freight company was hit by fluctuating demand in a tough economy, particularly at its biggest division, sending shares down more than seven per cent. The company’s road transport operations suffered as panicky retailers launched early promotions amid the UK high street gloom. However, the company [...]
BOEING’S DREAMLINER MAKES MAIDEN VOYAGE October 26, 2011 BOEING’S Dreamliner has finally taken its maiden commercial voyage, after three years of delays. All Nippon Airlines (ANA) flight carried its first passengers on the carbon-composite aeroplane from Tokyo to Hong Kong. Meanwhile, Boeing said third quarter net profit rose 31 per cent to $1.1bn (£689m), from the same July-September period last year and raised [...]
Nokia: Lumia will dispel our stuffy image October 26, 2011 NOKIA yesterday unveiled the “hero” handset it hopes will allow it to compete with the likes of Apple and Samsung. The Lumia 800 is the first device from the Finnish company to use Microsoft’s Window Phone 7 software, following the sweetheart deal penned by the two struggling telecoms players earlier this year. Chief executive Stephen [...]
Nokia Lumia 800 FIRST LOOK October 26, 2011 THE LUMIA 800 was a launch Nokia couldn’t afford to get wrong: described by boss Stephen Elop as its new “hero” device, it is also the first running Windows Phone 7, the software upon which it has staked its future. The event certainly had a sense of theatre: a giant shutter slowly opened to reveal [...]
Future lies far from Finland October 26, 2011 Nokia’s turnaround, says its chief executive Stephen Elop, is already underway: a sentiment given credence by its better than expected results last month, in which it avoided making an expected loss. Elop has admitted the firm has an image problem and its new handsets go some way to addressing that. But short of a miracle [...]
Orange JV sees improvement October 26, 2011 EVERYTHING Everywhere yesterday announced its first results under new chief executive Olaf Swantee, with the firm appearing to stabilise after a string of underwhelming quarterly figures. The company, formed by the merger of France Telecom’s Orange and Deutsche Telekom’s T-Mobile, said it gained 185,000 contract customers, while it shed 227,000 pre-paid users. Swantee told City [...]
Informa gets boost from training arm October 26, 2011 STRONG demand for events and training enabled business media group Informa to post organic nine-month revenue growth of 4.2 per cent and to confirm its full-year expectations yesterday. The company, which publishes shipping guide Lloyd’s List and organises exhibitions and events, said yesterday it had continued to grow after it cut back on smaller and [...]
Caution hits orders at CSR October 26, 2011 CHIPMAKER CSR is seeing caution among its customers in the car, home audio and mobile sectors, and now expects fourth-quarter revenue to fall short of market expectations. The Cambridge-based company, which makes GPS, bluetooth and wifi chips, said consumer demand was being hit by economic uncertainty in Europe and unemployment in the US, echoing comments [...]
Luminar leaves the dancefloor October 26, 2011 NIGHTCLUB operator Luminar said yesterday it is entering administration proceedings, just a month after telling the market that trading at its Oceana and Liquid venues had stabilised. Luminar said that Lloyds, RBS and Barclays had decided not to extend the waiver on certain covenants related to a three-year banking facility, meaning that the terms of [...]
Aegis snaps up Kobalt Media October 26, 2011 MARKETING company Aegis has bought Dutch firm Kobalt Media, whose clients include continental brands C&A and Perfetti Van Melle. The deal, believed to be worth around €18.9m (£16.4m) will see the firm merged into Aegis’ Dutch operation, Aegis Media Netherlands, in a bid to extend market share across the country. “The agreement enhances our prospects, [...]
