London Report: Banking stocks stop FTSE index edging ahead November 12, 2013 FINANCIAL stocks kept a lid on the FTSE 100 yesterday after Goldman Sachs downgraded Royal Bank of Scotland. While the FTSE 100 closed little changed, banks and insurers combined to take 6.1 points off the index, handing back most of the gains they made in the previous session. Partly state-owned Royal Bank of Scotland fell [...]
Premier League bids to hit £5bn November 12, 2013 War between BSkyB and BT for TV football rights set to escalate THE COST of broadcasting Premier League matches is set to soar as soon as next year, as competition over the coveted rights intensifies between BSkyB and rival BT. After Sky’s sports dominance was challenged over the weekend by BT’s knockout £900m bid to [...]
Liga and Serie A beat English in TV cash grab November 11, 2013 PREMIER League chairmen may be licking their lips at the prospect of BT Sport’s vast investment trickling down to their clubs, but for now England’s top teams are being left in the shade by Spanish and even Italian teams when it comes to income from television rights. Real Madrid (€178m) rake in the most broadcast [...]
London Report: BT and Shire lift FTSE as markets remain bullish November 11, 2013 BRITAIN’S FTSE 100 rose yesterday, boosted by signs of a strengthening global economy and major deals for pharma group Shire and telecoms group BT. Shire rose to an all-time high after beating competitors to buy ViroPharma, in a $4.2bn deal implying a 64 per cent premium to the stock price of the US rare diseases [...]
Letters to the Editor – 12/11 – Greenbelt benefits, Best of Twitter November 11, 2013 Greenbelt benefits [Re: The Greenbelt sacred cow: It pens in the poor for no environmental gain, yesterday] Professor Anne Powers (LSE) estimates that there are sufficient brownfield sites across London to provide the necessary housing for the next 20 years. Surely we should be looking at how we design affordable housing, in areas that are [...]
BSkyB shares fall on BT Champions League news, but did BT pay too much? November 11, 2013 BSkyB is dragging the FTSE 100 down 4.4 points, as it shares dropped more than eight per cent this morning, after rival BT won the exclusive broadcasting rights to Champions and Europa League football matches. BT Sport will be the home of UEFA from 2015-2018, in a £900m deal announced on Saturday. BT has agreed to [...]
BT defends £897m deal for Champions League rights November 11, 2013 THE BATTLE between Sky and BT for dominance in televised sport came to a head this weekend with the surprise announcement that Champions League matches will be shown exclusively on BT Sport from 2015 as part of a £900m investment by the telecoms giant. New chief executive Gavin Patterson defended the huge price tag, more [...]
Bottom Line: The war between BT and Sky gets vicious November 11, 2013 WHEN you move, fall like a thunderbolt.” BT’s new chief executive Gavin Patterson has clearly been reading his Sun Tzu. BT’s massive bid for Champions League broadcast rights came out of the blue, scoring a key victory in its war with BSkyB for TV sports dominance. But the best generals have to consider if the [...]
What the other papers say this morning – 08 November 2013 November 7, 2013 FINANCIAL TIMES Currencies probe shifts to the US A global probe into alleged manipulation of the multibillion-dollar currencies market has widened its focus to include the US, with Barclays putting three New York-based traders on leave. They included foreign exchange spot traders Russell Katz and Jerry Urwin, two of these people said. Mr Katz and [...]
AA wins licence to enter legal services sector November 6, 2013 THE AA has become the latest company to enter the legal market after being granted an alternative business structure (ABS) licence. The motoring services giant announced today it has won approval from the Solicitors Regulation Authority to operate its own legal services arm, AA Law. The new business, a joint venture with solicitors Lyons Davidson, [...]