FTSE 100 underperforms European counterparts, including German Dax and French Cac October 22, 2015 Basic resources were sharply higher on Thursday, with Glencore and BHP Billiton among the risers, helping the FTSE 100 end the session slightly higher. However, the UKs main index lagged behind its European counterparts. While the FTSE 100 slipped during the day to a low of 6,321 points, it closed 0.44 per cent higher at 6,376 points. [...]
Virgin Media hits out at BT and Sky over Premier League football TV rights deal October 21, 2015 Virgin Media has fired the latest shot in the battle of the broadcasters over the way TV rights for football games are sold. Research commissioned by Virgin showed that just six per cent of football fans said they were able to watch every match they wanted to on TV at home. Media watchdog Ofcom launched an [...]
EE’s Olaf Swantee: The BT merger is “good for Britain” October 21, 2015 EE is “very confident” that the £12.5bn deal with BT will be approved, as a competition watchdog’s decision on the takeover draws near. Olaf Swantee, the telecoms company’s chief executive, said to City A.M. that the merger would be “good for Britain”, following the company’s third quarter results posted on Wednesday: We’re excited about creating [...]
Sky shakes off competition with profit rise despite Champions League loss October 21, 2015 Sky has shaken off rivals with a 10 per cent rise in profits while a 77 per cent surge in broadband subscribers was its biggest quarterly growth in four years. Operating profit across Sky Europe of £375m was slightly ahead of expectations for the three months to the end of September on revenue of £2.8bn, [...]
Santander, BT and Odeon go barmy for Bond ahead of the Spectre premiere October 19, 2015 Is it just us, or did London’s businesses bulk-buy thousands of tickets to the new Bond film next week and call it a “corporate event”? Private screenings are being held all over London by companies to celebrate the release of Spectre, with some firms jostling for space in the capital on the same night. Monday will be [...]
The ultimate connection: Hyperoptic’s Dana Tobak on recalcitrant councils and politics in taxis October 18, 2015 The thing some have been slow to come to terms with is that BT is not the only solution," says Dana Tobak, when I ask her what the UK is doing wrong when it comes to internet provision. Tobak co-founded fibre-based internet service provider Hyperoptic in 2011. She and business partner Boris Ivanovic, who she [...]
Rugby union and rugby league compared ahead of Manchester showdown between England v Uruguay and Super League final October 9, 2015 England travel to Manchester City's Etihad Stadium to face Uruguay in a World Cup dead rubber this Saturday, their first excursion beyond Twickenham at the tournament. But you could forgive locals for averting their attentions to a different code of rugby as the Super League final between Leeds Rhinos and Wigan Warriors takes place across town. [...]
The Competition and Markets Authority wants to review O2 merger with three October 2, 2015 The UK's competition regulator has asked the European Commission for a review an upcoming deal to create one of the UK's biggest mobile operator to be referred to it. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said that the proposed deal between Hutchinson's Three and Telefonica's O2 threatens to significantly affect competition in the UK mobile markets. This is because a successful [...]
AIG and the All Blacks brand: How New Zealand dominates rugby on and off the pitch September 25, 2015 New Zealand’s opening two wins over Argentina and Namibia at the World Cup will not rank particularly high in the annals of the country’s proud rugby history. Yet even in what was a tense and at times ill-disciplined 26-16 victory over Argentina on Sunday, there was enough in the All Blacks’ opening performance to understand [...]
FTSE 100 carbon reporting: After the Volkswagen emissions scandal, how do Britain’s blue chip companies stack up? September 23, 2015 Still reeling from the Volkswagen emissions scandal, FTSE 100 companies’ own carbon reporting has now been put to the test – and financial companies have been found wanting. BT has been named the FTSE’s greenest company, as the telecoms group was lauded for its “rigorous and far reaching carbon strategy” by Carbon Clear, the organisation [...]