BT stock falls on profit slip August 1, 2008 Telecoms giant BT fell the most in more than eight years yesterday, after reporting its fourth consecutive quarterly decline in profit and warning that margins at its global services unit may drop. Its shares fell 12 per cent, the sharpest fall since February 2000, closing at 173.9p. The firm’s share price has lost 28 per [...]
Slowing sales of broadband August 1, 2008 Growth in sales of broadband connections, which surged in recent years, has peaked and is now slowing rapidly, according to figures released by the UK’s leading broadband providers. Carphone Warehouse yesterday said it had missed its fixed line revenue growth targets, adding just 41,000 broadband customers in its first quarter, compared to earlier forecasts of [...]
The perfect storm July 16, 2008 Higher than expected inflation figures and growing concerns about the banking sector knocked London’s FTSE 100 index of leading stocks down 2.4 per cent yesterday to under 5,200. The benchmark index has now fallen 23 per cent since a June 2007 high and is in clear bear market territory. Bank stocks, unsettled by fears that [...]
BT is right to take a risk on faster broadband network July 16, 2008 BT’s announcement that it will spend £1.5bn upgrading Britain’s broadband network has unnerved investors, especially as it is funding the investment by suspending its shareholder buyback programme. But it’s important to remember that, in the long term, delaying this decision would have been worse for the company. Falling Behind The firm is falling behind its [...]
BT gambles on need for speed July 16, 2008 Telecoms firm BT yesterday announced it was suspending its shareholder buyback scheme to invest £1.5bn in faster broadband for 10m homes by 2012. The programme will be Britain’s largest ever investment in fibre optic cabling, which can deliver potential speeds up to 100Mbps, compared to the UK average of 4Mbps. But some analysts questioned whether [...]
New Orange supremo in drive back to basics July 4, 2008 For a man who has spent his entire career in the telecoms industry, it seems strange that Tom Alexander, Orange UK’s newly installed chief executive, should list his first passion as racing cars. As we travel across London in the back of his chauffer driven BMW 7-series, he tells me he never expected to make [...]
Using CFDs to jazz up a DIY pension July 1, 2008 New rules on Sipps mean that there are even more ways to plan for the future, says Katie Hope Last week, the government announced that as of October, the estimated 10 million people holding money in protected rights pension pots will be able to transfer it into a Self Invested Personal Pension, otherwise known as [...]
Finding your way through the TV maze November 2, 2005 Satellite, cable, Freeview, PVR, broadband, video-on-demand and telly-down-the-phone. Confusing, isn’t it? The power of the television remote control has never been so great. With more than 350 television channels from which to choose, as well as interactive extras like digital videoing and television libraries, the couch potato trigger finger has never had it so good. [...]
Party like it’s 1999 November 2, 2005 Mergers and acquisitions are back and they’re almost as lucrative as they were during the last feverish round. It’s a throwback to the turn of the century: multibillion pound mergers are announced by the day, the stock market is soaring, city pubs and wine bars are buzzing. All that’s missing is the sight of grown [...]
A good call for O2 buyer November 1, 2005 It was just a matter of time before someone made a move on the British company, so Telefonica’s offer for O2 was no big shock. But there’s still time for other rivals to muscle in on the act, says Ben Griffiths. Since splitting off from BT four years ago, O2 has persistently found itself unable [...]