After waiting in the shadows, the telco sector is looking good August 9, 2010 SINCE the outbreak of the European debt crisis, analysts have sung the praises of the utilities sector. It had all the ingredients to be recession- busting: utility stocks tend to be anti-cyclical, they hold up well when other stocks tumble and they provide a reliable dividend. But as the global economy emerges from recession, some [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING August 4, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES DIPLOMATS TO BECOME SALESMEN The job description for Britain’s ambassadors is to be rewritten to include tough targets for trade promotion and a requirement for the country’s top diplomats to tour the UK’s regions to showcase commercial opportunities abroad. As well as gliding through the corridors of foreign ministries and cultivating contacts with [...]
Competition probe hits Sky Movies August 4, 2010 SKY will face an investigation by the Competition Commission into the dominance of its pay-TV movie service. Ofcom has requested the probe after raising concerns over the prices Sky is able to charge for new releases and the lack of consumer choice. The Competition Commission will have a maximum of two years to investigate the [...]
Corporate pensions shortfall shrinks £26bn as assets heal August 1, 2010 RECOVERING equity values and rising corporate bond yields have shaved £26bn from the combined shortfall of the UK’s 200 largest private defined benefits pension schemes. The retirement funds’ deficit narrowed from £100bn to £74bn between June and July, according to risk management firm Aon Consulting. Trustees of schemes run by corporate giants such as BA [...]
Sky smashes expectations as HD fuels surge in demand July 29, 2010 BSKYB is in touching distance of achieving 10m subscribers after announcing it made a net gain of 90,000 customers in the fourth quarter. In a strong set of results the subscription TV giant announced that demand for its HD content has surged, with 429,000 users signing up in the last three months. Adjusted revenue for [...]
BT profit climbs by 17pc despite tough trading July 29, 2010 BT shrugged off difficult trading conditions in the wake of government cuts to match expectations in its first quarter. The telecoms giant, which last month declared war on Sky with its entry into the lucrative Premier League subscription market, reported first quarter revenue of £5bn, down four per cent on the year before. However, rigorous [...]
Sky TV July 29, 2010 BACK in 1989, if you had predicted that Sky TV would become more successful than BT, you’d have been laughed out of the room. Rupert Murdoch’s Australian chutzpah was considered no match for the state monopoly that BT was handed on a plate, and which it squandered away over the following years. You’d have been [...]
Bumper UK earnings fail to lift FTSE as bank sell-off weighs July 29, 2010 BRITAIN’S top shares closed easier yesterday as a retreat from banks and investor caution ahead of US growth data offset a batch of robust UK corporate earnings from companies including AstraZeneca. The FTSE 100 closed down 5.73 points, or 0.1 per cent, at 5,313.95, after it ended 0.9 per cent lower on Wednesday. AstraZeneca advanced [...]
BT earnings up 6pc July 29, 2010 BT posted a six per cent rise in first-quarter adjusted core earnings, generated strong cash flow and reiterated its outlook after taking further costs out of the business. Britain’s biggest fixed-line telecoms provider said its group revenues were down four per cent to £5bn in line with forecasts, while core earnings were up six per [...]
Rake: BT has hit a watershed July 22, 2010 BT HAS reached a watershed this year when it finally crawled back to profit, according to its chairman Sir Michael Rake. Speaking at the firm’s annual meeting Rake said BT had achieved “year of delivery” as it turned a profit and arrested its declining revenue. He said: “A lot has changed since last year’s annual [...]