THE LONDON REPORT October 22, 2009 The FTSE 100 closed one per cent, or 50.49 points, lower yesterday at 5,207.36, as weaker crude and metals weighed on energy stocks and miners. The index has rallied more than 50 per cent since hitting a low in early March, and is up 17 per cent this year. Energy stocks suffered with crude slipping [...]
Carphone on track for a March split October 8, 2009 CARPHONE Warehouse said yesterday that it signed up more broadband customers than expected in its second quarter, and that it is on-track to demerge the business in March 2010. The long-awaited demerger of its telecoms and retail businesses has been delayed due to the problems of valuation during the economic downturn. “The worst seems to [...]
BT extends fast broadband plan October 8, 2009 British Telecom is more than doubling its ultra-fast broadband network, taking it to at least 2.5m homes by 2012, instead of the 1m homes originally planned. The network will offer download speeds of up to 100 megabits per second, compared to the current UK average of 4.1mbps.
Pension funds slam calls for annual voting October 6, 2009 BRITISH pension schemes with more than £50bn in assets have sharply criticised a call by other major institutional investors for annual re-election of all directors at listed UK companies. BT Pension scheme fund manager Hermes, and the universities pension fund USS – which manages £21.7bn in assets – said a move to put the entire [...]
Virgin and BT join forces in BSkyB attack October 4, 2009 Virgin Media and BT have hit out at BSkyB’s pricing mechanism for its premium channels, saying that its “near monopoly” restricts consumer choice and keeps prices high. The attack came in a joint submission to Ofcom, which is consulting over its proposals to control the wholesale pay-TV market, that would mean BSkyB having to sell [...]
Dunstone to fight piracy laws in court September 29, 2009 CARPHONE Warehouse chief executive Charles Dunstone said last night that he is prepared to take the government to court if it passes a rule forcing internet service providers (ISPs) to cut off suspected file-sharers. Dunstone said that Carphone-owned ISP provider TalkTalk – which supplies 4.25m households – would refuse to slow down or cut off [...]
ITV investors oppose Davis September 27, 2009 Embattled broadcaster ITV faces another struggle as shareholders prepare to block the appointment of Sir Crispin Davis as its new chairman. Ex-Reed Elsevier chief executive Davis and former Channel 4 chairman Sir Michael Bishop are said to be ITV’s favourites for the role. However, it is understood that some shareholders are against Davis as a [...]
BT in next generation push September 24, 2009 BT has unveiled ambitious plans to double the number of homes that are able to receive 24 megabit broadband by spring 2011. Currently 40 per cent of UK homes and business are reached by the telecoms group’s fast copper network, but it said that number will rise to 75 per cent under the plans. The [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING September 23, 2009 FINANCIAL TIMES SIEMENS IN BRIBERY ULTIMATUMSiemens yesterday told several former executive board members, including former chief executives Heinrich von Pierer and Klaus Kleinfeld, to agree to pay damages relating to a multibillion euro bribery scandal. The firm, Europe’s largest engineering group, said seven former managers would face legal action if they failed to show willingness [...]
Phorm narrows its losses September 21, 2009 Targeted online advertising firm Phorm posted a narrower pre-tax loss for the first half, helped by cost cuts, and said it remained confident about its future. The company said it was progressing well to commercially deploy its technology in a major market, with expected generation of meaningful revenues. Its pre-tax loss from continuing operations was [...]