Samsung touts new smart gear ahead of Apple August 28, 2014 SAMSUNG yesterday unveiled the first smartwatch capable of making and receiving calls without a smartphone nearby, as the South Korean electronics giant looks to gain a stronghold in the wearable market, which rival Apple is expected to enter in two weeks. Meanwhile, in the UK, Samsung has increased its smartphone market share from 32 per [...]
Soaring punter payouts hit first quarter profits at Paddy Power August 28, 2014 BOOKMAKER Paddy Power boasted a record number of new online customers in the first half of the year, but blamed punter friendly results for a 20 per cent fall in profits. The group’s revenues grew four per cent to €396.5m (£315.2m) during the six months to 30 June while profits sagged to €61.6m, down from [...]
Playtech poised to beat forecast August 28, 2014 GAMBLING software firm Playtech saw its shares jump 7.4 per cent to 712p yesterday, after posting soaring profits during the first half of 2014. It is now on track to beat full-year forecasts. Playtech, whose clients now included Trinity Mirror and Mexican gambling firm Caliente, said its revenues rose 21.2 per cent to €214.4m (£170.4m) [...]
Spirits hurt by Polish tax hike August 28, 2014 EASTERN Europe-focused vodka and spirits maker Stock Spirits saw its revenues knocked during the first half of the year as sales were hit by a 15 per cent hike in Polish excise duty. Stock Spirits, the biggest vodka producer in Poland and the Czech Republic, reported a 10 per cent drop in revenues to €137.7m [...]
Monitise share price soars on extension to IBM partnership August 27, 2014 London-listed Monitise saw its shares soar 13.2 per cent yesterday after the mobile banking and payments firm announced a deeper alliance with business giant IBM. This would include the transfer of teams from Monitise’s development and implementation workforce to IBM. Monitise sells white-label mobile banking software – used by customers including Visa, Natwest and HSBC [...]
Snapchat now fundraising with a $10bn valuation August 27, 2014 Ephemeral photo messaging app Snapchat is reportedly in the process of raising a new round of investment valuing the mobile messaging app at $10bn (£6bn), far above Facebook’s $3bn takeover offer last year. According to the Wall Street Journal, prolific Silicon Valley venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byer is said to have invested [...]
Profits up 180pc as Alibaba preps bumper $20bn New York listing August 27, 2014 CHINESE e-commerce giant Alibaba reported its profits almost tripled in the three months to the end of June. Alibaba, which could float on the New York Stock Exchange in the coming weeks, filed papers with the US Securities and Exchange Commission showing profits jumped to 12.34bn yuan (£1.2bn), from 4.38bn yuan during the same period [...]
Telecity’s Michael Tobin quits and sends share price tumbling August 26, 2014 Shares in data centre provider Telecity plunged nearly six per cent in trading yesterday following the shock resignation of outspoken chief executive Michael Tobin. In a statement Tobin said it was “time to move on. Having led the company for over a decade… the board and I agree that with the business in excellent health, [...]
WPP results ‘ravaged’ by strength of the pound August 26, 2014 The world’s largest advertising company, WPP, reported a 1.5 per cent rise in profit to £532m in the first half of the year yesterday, hampered by the effects of a strong pound. WPP reported that the strength of sterling had “ravaged” its billings and at a constant currency the same profits would have risen 15.6 [...]
Ride a black swan? WPP’s Sir Martin Sorrell adds Russian crisis to his list August 26, 2014 The Sochi Winter Olympics in February were a key turning point in the West’s deteriorating relationship with Russia, says WPP boss Sir Martin Sorrell who now lists the Russian crisis as the most threatening of his unknown unknowns – or “black swans” – supplanting the Eurozone debt crisis. “I think we made a mistake [...]
