Mining gains prop up FTSE August 9, 2012 Gains in heavyweight miners kept Britain’s main share index flat this morning, as solid results from Randgold Resources and expectations of fresh stimulus measures from China propped up the equity markets. The FTSE 100 was down 0.08 per cent, as Randgold rose 3.1 per cent after reporting a 10 per cent rise in second-quarter profit. [...]
Sky appeal on sports upheld August 8, 2012 SKY could be free to charge its rivals higher prices for its sports channels after winning a competition appeal against Ofcom yesterday. The competition appeals tribunal found the regulator’s concerns over Sky’s dominance to be “unfounded”, paving the way for rules to be lifted on the amount Virgin Media and BT pay for Sky Sports [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS August 6, 2012 Riverview Law Paul Bird has been appointed finance director at the law firm. He joins from Pearson Education, where he was finance director and company secretary at its subsidiary, Education Development International. UBS Global Asset Management Stephen Hutton has been appointed head of UK wholesale at the asset management firm. He joins from Zurich Intermediary, [...]
Sky dominance not a problem says watchdog August 2, 2012 SKY’S exclusive movie rights do not create a monopoly in the pay-TV market, the government’s media watchdog ruled yesterday, in a major victory for the broadcaster. Despite Sky enjoying special deals with major Hollywood studios, the arrival of online streaming services Netflix and Lovefilm into the market has loosened Sky’s grip, the competition commission declared. [...]
BSkyB cleared on pay-TV movie dominance August 2, 2012 Broadcaster BSkyB’s strong position in movies does not adversely affect Britain’s pay-TV retail market, a competition watchdog said this morning, pointing to increased choice with the arrival of new entrants Lovefilm and Netflix. “Sky Movies, which currently offers the first pay movies of all the big Hollywood studios, is not a sufficient driver of subscribers’ [...]
CWW reshuffle from Vodafone July 30, 2012 VODAFONE has replaced top Cable & Wireless Worldwide (CWW) executives with its own following its £1bn purchase of the telecoms operator. Chief executive Gavin Darby has stepped down, with the head of Vodafone’s global enterprise division Nick Jeffery taking over. Darby will stay at CWW until October as Vodafone integrates the two firms’ technologies. Vodafone completed [...]
PERSONALITY OF THE YEAR July 29, 2012 TODAY we kick off the countdown to the City A.M. Awards with the first of the shortlists – for Personality of the Year. Our awards, now in their third year, have established themselves as a key part of the business calendar, celebrating all of the City’s main sectors and the people that make sure London [...]
TalkTalk battles Sky with pay-TV service July 26, 2012 BUDGET broadband provider TalkTalk bid to take on Sky, Virgin Media and BT yesterday as it unveiled plans to launch a pay-TV service in tandem with the newly released YouView set-top box. The company also appointed Sony chairman Sir Howard Stringer to its board as it said it lost 19,000 customers in the quarter to [...]
BT rocked by fall in European contracts as shares plummet July 25, 2012 SHARES in BT slumped yesterday as the extent of the telecoms operator’s European woes were laid bare, with the firm announcing a six per cent drop in revenues. BT’s lossmaking global services arm, which provides phone and internet services to multinational corporations and governments, saw contracts dry up in the three months to July, with [...]
FTSE ends flat as patchy earnings steal focus away from Eurozone July 25, 2012 BRITAIN’S top share index steadied yesterday, pausing after three days of falls thanks to a mixed batch of corporate results that pitted a weak showing in Europe for GlaxoSmithKline and BT against a sterling performance for chipmaker Arm. The international backdrop also offered conflicting signals, with weak US data on the one hand and growing [...]